Overtale
by James Gravley
Summary: Four teenagers entered the Underground to save Asriel. And yet, six souls left: a lovely assassin, a kindhearted hunk, a lazy genius, a reformed racist, a young prince, and a fallen human. Has been given to BlitzKraig to continue.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not Undertale or any of the Undertale-based terms here.

Warning: Contains heavy spoilers for the True Pacifist ending.

-P-

Nearly 20 years have passed since the monsters were freed from the underworld. Nearly 20 years have passed since the world changed forever. And yet, after all this time, neither Teach nor Mr. Dreemurr appears to have aged a day.

* * *

"Rea!" a voice sounded out from behind the boy. "Hey, Rea, over here!"

The boy looked and saw an adult monster waving him over. He sighed deeply. Why did they always insist on trying to get him to talk to them? He put on a fake smile and walked over.

"Hey, Teach, what's up?"

"Rea, I've asked you several times to call me Toriel," the goat woman said in a tired voice, having had this conversation countless times before. "I only teach elementary school, anyways. You haven't had me for a 'Teach' for almost six years!"

"Whatever, Teach. What do you need?"

Toriel took a deep breath. "Yes, well, there's apparently a rumor going around that I'm immortal?"

 _Uh-oh_. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, you are supposedly the one who started this rumor."

Rea stated silent for a second, before blushing furiously. "W-whoever told you that?"

"That would be Frisk."

 _Damn snitch_. "Yeah, well there are people who say the same thing about him…or her…seriously, what ARE they?"

Toriel purposely ignored the second half of that statement. "Yes, well, they don't age due to them having faced off against Flowey. It's only natural for that much power to alter some things about them-"

"You keep saying they, it's a simple he-or-she answer-"

"-but having seen what Frisk has seen, it's outright surprising that they-"

"You literally have done it four times in one answer-"

"-are fully human at this point. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if they function a bit like monsters, due to being that exposed to them for such a long time."

"Five times," Rea said miserably. "And I wasn't the one who started the rumor." One glare from Toriel got him to finish that statement: "I'm just the one who started the spread of it…"

"And may I ask why you would do that?" Toriel's voice said peace, but her eyes said murder.

"W-well, I just starting noticing after it was pointed out to me. I mean, you don't look like you've aged a day since you go here, and that was 20 years ago, if the history books are accurate."

"I take it you didn't pay attention in my class?"

"Not even a little," Rea admitted.

"Well, then you would know that my species children age until their parents die, and resume aging when their children are born. Between those two events, their age remains the exact same indefinitely."

Rea was silent for a second, but then perked up. "Wait, then if it's open information, then why were you upset that a rumor started up about it?"

"Because, child, it's annoys me how few people either payed attention or remember my class at all."

"Well, you said yourself it was six years ago," Rea argued.

"I first saw the surface twenty years ago," Toriel said, "and yet I still remember vividly the look of the sunrise."

"Yeah, but that's actually something that's important to remember," Rea said before realizing his mistake.

"And just what are you implying about my class?" Toriel said after a long pause.

"I-I was j-just saying…I mean the sunrise is easy to pay attention to, and not at all boring or easy to fall asleep watching-"

* * *

"I'm just saying, Calibri," Faire said to the skeleton boy, "that even though we're supposedly equal on a legal level, you have to admit there are some serious differences between humans and monsters that naturally make us superior."

The skeleton looked at her blankly before rolling up his sleeves.

* * *

"YOU SAID WHAT!?" Rea virtually shrieked at Faire from the ice bath he was in.

"I just said humans are naturally superior to monsters," Faire said, adjusting the ice pack over her eye.

"And you're saying it's his fault the fight started?"

"No, I'm just saying it wasn't very gentlemanly of him to hit a girl."

"Yeah, will it was a bit of a bitch move to call him inferior!"

"Well, they, aren't they? That's what my parents always say," Faire said with irritation.

"It's unfortunate you think that way," Toriel said, "but that was a very rude thing to say. And, Rea, let me say again how truly sorry I am," she said, nursing the burns that covered the boy's body.

"Eh, don't worry about it, Teach. If Frisk's stories are true, you pretty much beat them within an inch of their life just to try and keep them safe. Besides, I was kind of asking for it by that point."

"Still, that was no excuse for me to use my fire magic against you…"

"Seriously, Teach, stop being such a nanny goat," Rea said before remembering who he was talking to. "Well, anyways, it's not the first time a monster's attacked me. And remember those test results? I have one of the most powerful souls to come around since Frisk's. A few little poofs like what you were doing aren't going to break a soul that strong."

"Still, I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn't stopped myself when I did."

"I'm surprised you held back at all," Faire said. "After all, it's just like a monster to assault a defenseless human boy."

Rea thought Toriel would get angry, but she just looked even more upset at that.

"Sis, shut up. I insulted her class, her teaching methods, and her species in general. Unlike you, though, mine was accidental. And for the last time, Teach, stop worrying so much! If anyone hassles you, I'll make sure they find out exactly what it's like when humans and monsters work together."

"Ugh, Rea, it's disgusting how you think these…things…have emotions. They're monsters!"

"Sis, shut up, or I'll shut you up," Rea flared. Faire huffed, but stayed silent regardless.

 _Yeah, maybe this is what we were taught,_ Rea thought to himself, _but that doesn't change the fact that these things are living creatures. The can feel pain, they can love, they can get married, they can have children._

Rea perked up as he remembered a question he wanted to ask earlier. "Hey, Toriel, would you ever want to have children? I mean, you're what, mid-thirties? You'd still have some time left to enjoy it."

A look of pain crossed Toriel's face. "No, not after what happened last time."

"Last time?" Rea asked, interested.

"Ugh, they probably ate it, or something like that."

"Faire, I swear to God…"

"You see, Rea, I had a child a long time ago. A long, long time ago…"

 **Hey guys, I've recently been getting super into Undertale. And, I also got super pissed when Goat Brother didn't get the happy ending he deserved. Not to mention, W.D. Gaster is one of the more interesting mysteries in any game I've played. Note, at the time I am writing this, little canon data has been released about Gaster, so this may very well turn into an AU if more info comes out later.**


	2. Part 1-Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not Undertale or any of the Undertale-based terms here.

Warning: Contains heavy spoilers for the True Pacifist ending.

-Part 1-

-Chapter 1: Child-

"We have to do something, Faire," Rea said as they walked home from school.

"Oh, and what do you propose we do?" she asked. "She said herself, her child is dead. Not even someone with a soul as powerful as yours can do anything about that.

"Maybe not, but do you member what Alphys told us about her experiments?"

Faire shook her head. "How do you know she was telling the truth?"

"I haven't even told you what she said yet."

"I don't care, I'm not going to believe anything out of a monster's mouth."

"Then maybe you'll listen to it coming from me," Rea said. "Monsters turn into dust when the die. However, humans don't do this. Do you know why that is?"

"Yeah, because he had DETERMINATION. The ability to keep going, even when things look darkest. It's what sets us apart from monsters and makes us better than them," Faire said.

"Putting aside for a moment that racist slur, you're right. Our DETERMINATION keeps our bodies together, even after we've died. However, Alphys tried an experiment. She tried to see what would happen in DETERMINATION was injected into a monster that died."

"So, you're saying we just need to get our hands on some DETERMINATION? Did it ever occur to you that this kid would have turned to dust long ago?"

"You didn't let me finish," Rea said. "See, the DETERMINATION only served as a temporary solution. After a while, the monster's bodies began melting, as they could not handle the strain of the power."

"What does this have to do about anything? All it's proven is that I'm right: humans are better than monsters both physically and spiritually."

"Ignoring that racist remark as well, don't be so sure this isn't important. So, we've discovered that monster's can't handle DETERMINATION. And yet, what about Frisk?"

"What about Frisk?" Faire asked. "Rea, where are you going with this?"

"Toriel said herself, by this point, Frisk must be partially monster, from that fight with Flowey. And yet, their body can handle the highest recorded DETERMINATION to date."

"Well, it's simple, isn't it? They must not BE part monster."

"Then why isn't their body aging?"

Faire opened her mouth to argue, but closed it when she couldn't think of anything. "So, what, we ask Frisk about what they saw in the battle?"

"No, because I think I just got all the information I need," Rea exclaimed, before running off.

"See, now why can't you put this much effort into your schoolwork?" Faire yelled towards him.

* * *

"Doc, I need to ask you something," Rea said a few hours later at the lizard woman's lab.

"Sure thing, Rea, anything," Alphys answered

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important, but this really couldn't wait any longer."

"Don't worry about it, Rea. As long as I get to keep studying you and that wonderful soul of yours, I'll be willing to share anything."

Rea smiled and took a deep breath. "Lister,Doc, I know you don't like talking about it, but this question is about the True Lab."

Alphys tensed up, but then nodded. "C-considering you count as one of my e-experiments, I think it's only fair to be completely transparent with you."

"Thanks, Doc," Rea grinned. "It's about the experiments you did with DETERMINATION and the monster's souls." Alphys nodded, but waited for Rea to actually ask the question. "I need to know…was one of your test subjects a boy by the name of Asriel?"

The lab was silent for a moment while Alphys thought about it. "N-no, I don't believe so. T-there was a boy named Asriel, but that was under a different experiment."

"And what experiment was that?" Rea asked, masking his excitement as best he could.

"Where I tried to bring a monster back without DETERMINATION."

Rea took a moment to let this sink in. "T-there's no way that could have possibly succeeded."

"Well, in a way, it did. You see, when monsters die, when their dust is spread across on something, their soul can take possession of that object. All I did was see what would happen if I took it a few steps further…."

Rea looked Alphys dead in the eyes. "Alphys, what. Did. You. Do?"

Alphys was silent for almost a full minute before she spoke. "There was a golden flower in the king's courtyard. A flower that came from the surface world. With Asriel's body gone, I knew there was no bringing him back. So, there I was, with a broken soul and a golden flower. What did you expect me to do?"

"B-but that had to have worked!" Rea exclaimed. "After all, that's pretty similar to what you did for me!"

"Rea, you were different," Alphys explained. "You're a human, and only part of your soul was destroyed. Adding some monster's souls into the mix was no problem."

Rea took in this information. "Alphys, what happened to the flower?"

Again, Alphys fell silent for a long time. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I succeeded. I gave the flower life. But there was a problem," Alphys said before Rea could speak. "The soul was more broken than I had anticipated. The flower went missing soon after coming to life, and that should have been the end of it."

"Let me guess," Rea said, feeling a chill on his spine, "was that flower Flowey?"

Alphys nodded silently.

* * *

"What do you propose we do, Rea?" Faire said a few hours later. "Find this demon flower and talk to him?"

"Worked for Frisk," Rea responded, not taking his eyes away from the notes Alphys had sent him home with. "Worked quite well for Frisk, in fact."

"Well, we can't all be as good of public speakers as you, now can we?" Faire sneered.

Rea sighed and set down his notes. "This is about Mom, isn't it?" Faire glared at him, but said nothing, which Rea took as permission to continue. "Faire, Mom's been gone for almost twelve years now. You were only four when she died. It's time to forgive."

"I will never forgive those monsters for what they did," Faire said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Mom tried talking, and look what happened to her. YOU tried talking, and look at what happened," she gestured to his face, where a long scar spanned from ear to ear, like a demented smile.

"Faire, have you conveniently forgotten that monsters are the reason I'm alive? If it weren't for those souls, I'd be done for."

"If it weren't for monsters in the first place, you wouldn't have to had those souls combined with yours."

"And if that hadn't happened? I would just have an utterly average soul. That 'incident' is the reason I'm special. And it's the reason I can save this kid."

"Did it occur to you," a voice called from behind the siblings, "that he may not need help?"

Rea tensed up, but loosened when he saw who it was. "Hey, Sans."

The skeleton also did not appear to have aged a day since he had gotten to the surface, but considering he was a skeleton, that wasn't all that surprising.

"Sup, kid?" he asked, walking towards Rea. Faire tensed as he approached, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by the skeleton. "What's the matter, do I frighten you?"

"Just say what you want and leave," Faire spat.

"So prickly! Anyways, I'm going to assume you're talking about Asriel, right?"

"Lucky guess," Rea grinned. "Why, you know something about it?"

"Something? Hell, I know a lot about that kid. But I'm not the person you should be asking."

"Let me guess," Faire said, surprisingly soft, "you're talking about Frisk?"

"Bingo. You know, you're a pretty bright girl when you aren't spewing offensive remarks."

"Go shove a bone up your ass."

"You see?" Sans shrugged. "It's things like that. It makes us monsters dislike you."

"Good, then the feeling is mutual," Faire said coldly.

Rea stepped in before things got ugly. "ANYWAYS, you're saying we should talk to Frisk? But how do you propose we do that? He-slash-she is gone at the United Nations trying to work out peace talks after those humans attacked those monster kids."

"That may be true," Sans grinned, "but you may forget, you're talking to the master of the shortcut. I'll get you there. Come on," he gestured to follow him up the stairs of the house, "let me show you what I mean."

Rea and Faire still have no idea how simply walking up that flight of stairs carried them across the entire ocean in a matter of seconds, but by this point, they simply ceased caring.

 **Hey, guys! Before I go any further, I want to say a huge THANK YOU. I've never had this many views in a story's first week. With that out of the way, remember to comment/critique, as any comments really help me out, as strange as it may seem. See you guys next week, and here's to hoping the Undertale craze stick around long enough for me to finish this story!**


	3. Part 1-Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not Undertale or any of the Undertale-based terms here.

Warning: Contains heavy spoilers for the True Pacifist ending.

-Part 1-

-Chapter 2: Determination-

Rea woke up like a person gets into a pool: slowly and tediously. Also like getting into a pool, especially a cold pool, his anatomy was giving him some serious issues.

Shrugging this off, he walked into the hotel's bathroom, and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Tall, slightly chubby around the waist (it wasn't his fault pizza was the miracle substance…), with straight brown hair that went every which way (which is unsurprising, as it hadn't seen a comb in over nine years.) He yawned widely as he turned on the shower. Remembering his…anatomical problem, he wisely decided to go for a cold stream. He had the shower for over an hour. Plenty of time to think about last night's conversation…

* * *

"Frisk, care to elaborate a little more?" Rea asked the small child. "When you say Asriel has already been saved, what do you mean?"

"I mean," the child responded, voice as ambiguous as their features, "they have already been saved."

"Gee, thanks I never would have guessed. If he's been 'saved,' where is he now?"

Frisk took a moment to respond. "In the underworld as a flower, unable to feel love or any other positive emotion."

Rea rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah, the kid must just be having a jolly old time down there!"

"You misunderstand me. I used my DETERMINATION to SAVE him. Simply put, I saved that one time, where he was at his happiest, and I saved it with my determination in the form of a memory."

"Whoa…can everyone do that?" Rea asked, still not getting where Frisk was going, and also wondering why this kid had a better vocabulary than most adults.

"No, that is one of my unique DETERMINATION talents. Every human who holds immense stores of determination forms a unique ability or abilities that matches their personality. Me, with the desire to SAVE every person possible, and by extension you. With your immense stores of powers, must have one, even if you haven't found it yet."

"So what good does that memory do?" Rea asked, deciding to figure out his ability as soon as the conversation was over.

"After the fight, Asriel and I shared a moment that he said was one of his happiest. So, I saved that moment, and when I saw him right before I left the Underworld, I implanted that memory into him. And now, he is no longer Asriel. Flowey took over. Asriel is currently alone in the darkness. His own memories are gone. But the memory that was given to him by someone else, though…"

Rea finally understood. "You're letting him relive that moment over and over?" Frisk nodded. "But…he's still Flowey, though! There must be a way to give him physical form, and set him free!"

"I'm afraid my SAVE ability cannot do that. Or, frankly, any of my other known abilities." Frisk's expression softened. At least, Rea though so. Frisk's expression never really changed. "It's okay, Rea. He'll be happy with that memory I gave him."

Rea refused to believe that. Living for eternity with only a single memory would drive any person mad. He of all people would know.

* * *

Rea was shaken from his daydream by a pounding at that door.

"Rea, get out of there! Just because you don't care how you look doesn't mean I don't!"

Rea sighed and turned off the water. Faire would be angry at him for taking this long, for sure, but it did give Rea time to think. _So a person's DETERMINATION ability is based on what they desire most, right?_ he thought, remembering Frisk's desire. _But…what is it I desire?_

Rea was so deep in thought, he forgot to put on his boxers when he opened the door.

* * *

"It's not like you've never seen it before," Rea said, back at their home.

"It's not that, I'm just saying a little bit of warning next time would be nice!" Faire had virtually been screeching at him all the way back.

Rea scoffed and looked back at Alphys's notes. Something just didn't add up…

All at once, it hit Rea. His desire, his plan, and whet he would need to do in the end.

His sudden epiphany was noticed by Faire. "What's up nudist? You think of something?"

Rea glared at Faire for the nudist comment, but answered anyways. "My determination, I think I know how to make it take form."

Faire shot up. "You thought of your desire?"

"Yeah, I think so. Frisk wanted to SAVE everyone. That's why they kept resetting, just so he could get every monster out of the underground. But they were only part of the solution. I, then, will finish their hope…"

All was silent before Faire spoke up. "Yeah, you want to not trail off and tell me what the hell you want to do?"

Rea looked Faire dead in the eye, and spoke with true sincerity. "I want to RESTORE that which is lost."

Faire grinned, not believing what she had just heard. "That's a rather dorky wish to have, isn't it? Like, the stereotypical protagonist's wish, to change their fate, to save everyone. God, you are so predictable. Besides, isn't it tradition for the hero to not find their great power until they truly need it?"

Rea's glare convinced Faire that he was serious. "That is my desire," he spoke barely above a whisper. "Just because you see no hope in changing the world, doesn't mean we've all given up."

Faire winced, and Rea almost felt sorry. Keyword: Almost.

"Faire, there is a kid out there who is alone in the darkness. If I can RESTORE him, then everything will work out just fine."

"Maybe, but I'm highly doubting that is your desire," Sans said, making the siblings jump. They had forgotten he was there. "You're looking at DETERMINATION the wrong way. It's not your desire, it's what drives you. What your DETERMINATION abilities do is help you achieve that desire."

"Yes, and I want to save Asriel!" Rea said defensively. Why was everyone against him on this?

"No, that's your desire. Your DETERMINATION is what drives you towards that desire. What is it that little voice in your head is telling you to do? WHY do you want to RESTORE the child? What is it that drives you? And not just you, Rea, you too, Faire. What is it that you do everything for? What is the thing that you put your entire existence into?"

Rea and Faire both spoke at the same moment.

"I want to live in a world full of HOPE," Rea said.

"I want to live in a world where I have POWER," Faire said.

The second they finished their respective words, they then proceeded to explode.

* * *

Deep in the recesses of the Underworld, a flower began smiling.

 **Hey, guys, I know I started the last one like this, but here it is again: THANK YOU! I have never had a story get this much attention so early on, and it really means a lot to me, so: thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU! And, once again, if you see something you like or dislike, be sure to comment about it: critiques are openly encouraged. And don't worry about offending me, I would be honored if you took time out of your day to jot down even a word or two about what you think about this so far, good or bad. Lastly, if DETERMINATION is giving you a little bit of trouble to understand, I'll go into more depth next chapter. Until then, see you guys soon!**


	4. Part 1-Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not Undertale or any of the Undertale-based terms here.

-Part 1-

-Chapter 3: Heroes-

To say Rea and Faire were in pain is the equivalent of saying an atom bomb is pretty bad. Every fiber of their being seemed to be on fire. Rea, keeping true to his ability to hold his tongue, was only screaming at the top of his lungs. Faire, however, had some less savory words to say. And no, I'm not going to write down what they were.

The pain seemed to last forever. Pulsing, throbbing, growing more and more until-

It was gone.

The siblings were lying on the ground of their house, alone. Sans was nowhere to be seen, and it seemed like the very world outside their front door had vanished. Rea tried to move his limbs only to find they were pinned to the ground, along with his legs, by a pain of detached hands. Faire noticed the same to be true for her. The two laid there for a while until a disembodied voice rang out in their ears.

" _Humans, with the intent to face your fears: know now that the path you are taking is not one that can be stopped preemptively. If you wish to begin your quest to save the Prince of Darkness, you should know where your actions will lead you."_

When the voice had finished, the room around Rea and Faire faded away, replaced instead by a battlefield. Everywhere the siblings looked, they noticed another corpse of a human they knew, but two bodies stood out, even though they were the only two Rea and Faire didn't know. A dark-haired boy lying limp against a rock, a single gash running across the length of his chest. A pretty blonde girl swinging an axe while tears ran down her face. Monsters and humans clashing once again.

 _"There is more to your journey than the boy. Retrace the adventure set out by the humans before you. Seek out the man who speaks in hands. But know that this is where your quest will lead you."_

The voice stopped again, and the hands holding the teens down vanished. Standing up, Rea looked into the battlefield, only to be welcomed with a vision of himself being engulfed in a beam of flames, cast out from a very particular teacher of his. Faire disappeared for a moment, then reappeared with her lower half simply gone, a pool of blood growing beneath her.

"Rea…why?" her ghastly voice called out to him. "Why did you leave me alone in this hell!? WHY DID YOU LET ME DIE?!"

Rea and Faire both woke up screaming.

* * *

"You can't be serious," Faire said, having to jog to keep pace with Rea. "You saw what happens: you do this, you die! And I'm not letting that happen. You're all I have left, Rea, and I'm not losing you too."

"Faire, I know what I saw. But that's more reason than ever to go! Whatever catastrophe lead to that moment, I have to make sure it doesn't happen! I have to know what it is that could possibly lead Teach to killing me!"

"Did it ever occur to you," Faire was virtually running now, "that maybe it's you going on this journey that leads to that pandemonium?"

"Then that's a risk I'm going to have to take."

"Not alone, it isn't." Faire finally got up enough speed to cut Rea off. "If it really is this journey that leads to that battle, then maybe if I go with you, it will change that path."

"Heh, be careful Faire, or it'll seem like you care about me for a second," Rea mused.

Faire chuckled. "Yeah, and heaven forbid I actually care about something." Her expression turned much darker. "But did those two others stick out to you, too?"

"Who, blondie and dead guy?"

"For lack of a better term, yes. I wonder why they seemed so much more important than the others."

"You mean you didn't see it?" Rea asked, genuinely surprised. It had been rather obvious to him who those two were. "The woman had the same facial structure and eye color as you, and the guy looked pretty much like a well-groomed me."

"Mom and Dad," Faire gasped.

* * *

A solitary figure sat in a dull grey room. This creature had not moved a muscle for nearly a century. Until, without warning, it stood for a moment. Then it sat back down like it seemed to think better of standing. The figure repeated this several times, until finally it didn't sit back down. It stood there, completely silent, then gazed at the ceiling.

* * *

A pretty blonde girl was sprinting to try and make it to class on time. Her watch buzzed suddenly, signaling she had a new message. As she was already really late, she decided not to look. It's rather a pity, really. If she had read it, she would have been saved a lot of trouble. For example, she would have been saved the heartache of walking towards a crater where her school had been. She also would have been spared the image of her best friend's corpse strung out across the ground at her feet. And yet, she saw all of it. And yet, in all the carnage, what stood out to her most were the seven bodies lying motionless at the center of the crater. She didn't know why they stood out to her. Then, all at once, it occurred to her. One of the bodies was hers…

She awoke from the nightmare in a cold sweat.

* * *

A dark-haired boy sat in a classroom doodling in a notebook. Hearing the teacher call his name, he glanced up, startled when he saw that all his classmates had vanished. Knowing he must be hearing things, he went back to his doodles, finding instead a solitary word: CHARA. The ink turned red and started to bleed out of the page, turning instead into drawings of seven corpses, each mangled almost beyond recognition. He recognized one as himself…

The boy shook himself from the daydream.

* * *

Two siblings stood in the middle of a one-way street, with nobody in the world except for each other. They exchanged a few words, but it all boiled down to one thing: No matter who those other two were, they would have to find them before going any further. "You ready?" the boy asked.

A girl laid sobbing in her bed, scared of the images she had seen. Through it all, though, she was more determined than ever. She would AVENGE her brother, no matter the cost. "If that is what it takes to get my vengeance…"

A boy sat shaking in the middle of class, all eyes on him. As a single tear ran down his cheek, he was more determined than ever. He would find those others. And he would FIX this broken world. "If that is what it will take to change this world…"

A flower sat alone in the bottom of a pit, its smile wavering. "So, these humans wish to help me, do they? Well then…"

A lone figure stood in a dull grey room, smiling for the first time in centuries. It spoke in a strange language. "So, these are the children of the future? Heh, I can't wait to go with them…"

A child looked out over the sea, remembering its adventures in the Underworld, and determined to relive them. "I will be the one to save this world..."

Seven heroes spoke in unison.

"I'm ready."

 **Hey, guys! Asriel is just the beginning. So, let's see where this story goes. Hell, at this point, even I'm not sure where this is going. Also, I'm really liking the conflicting points of view in the comments section.**


	5. Part 1-Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not Undertale or any of the Undertale-based terms here.

-Part 1-

-Chapter 4: Gather-

"We really doing this?" Faire asked, eyeing the town sign warily. "You remember what happened last time you came here?"

Rea swallowed dramatically before resigning himself. "They're the best armor-makers around. If I'm going into the Underworld, I need to do this right."

"I know, but isn't there somebody else that can make armor for us?"

Rea nodded. "Of course there are. It's just that they're the best."

"If you can stand them long enough to place your order, that is," Faire challenged. She hated all monsters, but there were two in particular. The first was Jerry. Fuck Jerry. But the second…

* * *

"HOI! I'M TEMMIE!"

"And I'm going to murder someone…" Rea muttered under his breath. There was only one class in school where he actually applied himself: English. Poor grammar was unacceptable to him. But these creatures seemed to be doing it on purpose."

"WAT CAN I GET U!?"

"A stiff drink," Rea muttered.

"We need armor, Temmie. Strong armor," Faire took over. Rea completely despised the Tem, but she still had to behave herself, or he would get angry.

"OKEY! I'LL B RIHT BAK!"

When she had vibrated off (leaving her face behind, much to the siblings' mutual discomfort), Faire turned to Rea. "You doing okay? You look ready to murder someone."

Rea shook his head. "I'll manage. If it means I can move on with the mission, then I'll do anything. Besides, I still have Bob," he gestured to the only Tem who was capable of normal speech. Granted, his speech was limited to 'Hi, I'm Bob,' but it was still nice to have.

"Why does this matter so much to you? Countless monsters die every day, and the same goes for humans. What makes this kid so special?"

Rea thought about it for a moment. When he spoke, his words were carefully measured. "I know what it's like, being forced to leave everyone and everything behind. I got lucky, though. If there is any chance of helping this kid, I have to…"

Faire was about to press him further, when Temmie's body arrived with the armor. Seeing it, Rea and Faire were both having second thoughts. It was not made of a high-quality metal, or even a sturdy looking wood. No, this was made out of what looked like construction paper, glue, and a few strands of string.

"Er…Temmie?" Rea asked, voice dangerously calm. "That…is what cost us…10,000 gold…?"

"YAYA! HIH QUALITY! NO BREAKING!"

Faire noticed with mild amusement that Rea's eye was now twitching.

"Alright…I'll take your word for it…toss me the armor."

"OKEY!" Temmie did as she was told, literally throwing the armor full force at Rea, hitting him in the face and staying there. Faire was honestly surprised he hadn't glared a hole through it yet.

"Okay," Rea said, voice muffled by the armor covering his face, "that's all that was needed. Thank you, Temmie. Let's go, Faire." Rea didn't even wait to see if Faire was following; he just walked straight out of the village.

* * *

"Um, excuse me?" the dark haired boy asked the monster timidly. "I'm new here. I'm looking for a Ms. Toriel's classroom?"

The monster smiled at him warmly, trying to put the visibly nervous boy at ease. "That would be me. What may I do for you?"

"Er, I'm your new student teacher. I just transferred here from across the country, so I'm still trying to get used to everything."

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mr…?"

"Oh, s-sorry. I'm Marcus Walker, but everyone calls me Chrome."

"And how, if I might ask, did you obtain such an interesting nickname?" Toriel asked.

"W-well, the only class I've ever been any good at is robotics. Why they decided on Chrome, I have no idea, but it just kind of stuck, I guess."

"Well, I'm glad to have you in my classroom, Mr. Walker."

Brett shook his head. "Brett will be just fine, or Chrome. By this point, I've just grown used to hearing it, Ms. Toriel."

Toriel looked surprised. "Ms. Toriel?" she asked, not used to hearing such respect. Normally it was just Toriel, Tori, or, in one particularly annoying case, Teach.

"S-sorry. Mrs. Toriel?"

Toriel's expression turned icy. "No. Miss will do just fine." Brett noticed when she said this, she was glaring at the groundskeeper, who seem to be rather sheepishly trimming a hedge in the shape of a skeleton's head. Her gaze returned to the boy in front of her and she softened a little. "Sorry. That's completely unrelated to the matter at hand. You say you're my new student teacher?"

Brett nodded and started fumbling around with his backpack, eventually pulling out a rather beat up looking sheet of paper. "I was told to give this to you, as well. They said you would know what it meant."

"They?"

"Yeah, two other students. A boy and a girl, and siblings by the looks of them."

Toriel's heart skipped a beat. "Did the boy look homeless?"

Brett thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, but he smelled okay. The girl was kind of rude, though. She started yelling at the boy for 'wasting time,' whatever that meant."

Toriel braced herself and looked down at the note.

 _Hey, Teach._

 _If you're reading this, then you probably know something's already up. I'll make this simple: Rea and I are going to save Asriel. Or, more accurately, try to. If we don't come back, then it would just be best if you would just forget about us. Don't worry about us leaving family or friends behind. We've only got each other left. However, if you absolutely cannot let us go, we will be leaving tonight at four. You know where we'll be, I'm guessing. It's time we ended this, once and for all. Nobody should be forced to wait alone in the darkness for all of eternity._

 _Yours, most truly,_

 _Rea Cooper._

 _P.S: Please don't be angry with us. It's for the best._

* * *

Rea saw seven figures standing in their way. They were on Mt. Ebott, close to the entrance to the Underworld. Rea recognized all but one of them at once. Two goats, two skeletons, a fish, and a lizard. The human standing by Teach, however, he only vaguely remembered.

"Rea, stop this madness," Toriel said, not trying to mask her anger. "You have been warned for years that the Underworld is still a dangerous place. And yet, you wish to enter it, knowing full well that all that awaits you is failure and death."

Rea stared her dead in the eye. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Now, if you don't mind, we've got something we need to do, and you're kind of in our way."

"Child, please. Six innocent children already lost their lives in this pit. Let's not make it seven, okay?" Asgore said, eliciting a glare from Toriel.

"Shall I remind you that it's your fault six children died down there in the first place?" Toriel scowled, effectively shutting Asgore up.

"P-please, this is no time to be fighting," Alphys muttered.

"Alphys is right. Rea, listen up! This is where your journey ends," Undyne summoned a barrage of spears that floated nonchalantly by her side. "Turn back now, or face punishment."

"INDEED, UNDYNE," Papyrus said in his usual over-the-top voice. "AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE ASSISTING YOU FROM BEHIND!"

It happened so fast, no one had time to react. Rea pulled a revolver out from his jacket and unloaded the entire clip into Undyne. The monster looked shocked for a moment, before falling backwards, her spears dissipating. Six darts protruded from her chest.

Rea quickly reloaded and unloaded six more shots, knocking out Alphys and Papyrus with ease. Sans chuckled.

"Impressive, kid. I don't know how you managed to brew something up that can knock out monsters as well as humans, but I'll give you some serious props for it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make sure this guy," he gestured to Papyrus, "is going to be okay. And if he isn't, well…" His pupils vanished, leaving only a pitch black void. "I hardly think I need to mention the consequences?"

Rea shook his head. "Don't worry, he'll be alright. He may have a pretty big headache, but nothing that won't go away within a few hours."

Sans nodded, and picked up the limp bodies with ease. He glanced at Brett, who was visibly shaking.

"Hey, Tori, you don't mind me leaving your student teacher here with you, do ya?"

Toriel didn't respond, as she was still in shock at what Rea had just done.

"I'll take that as a no. See you, then." With that, he vanished with the bodies.

"Human," Asgore thundered, "what you have just done is an act of battle. Beg for forgiveness, or taste my anger."

In response, Rea pulled out a steel short sword from the sheath hidden on his belt. "You should be smiling, Asgore. You're going to see your son again."

"No," Asgore said. "All I shall see is another in a line of foolish humans who couldn't help but snoop around in business that does not concern them." He held out his hand, materializing his trident. "Stand down, Rea. It is still three on one. Well," he glanced at Toriel and Brett, both of whom hadn't moved since Rea pulled out the gun, and muttered, "well, maybe two and a half on one."

"Then I think it's time to even the playing field." He pulled out a walkie-talkie and pressed a button. "Faire, you may fire when ready."

* * *

From her perch 500 feet away, higher up in the mountain so she was behind Asgore, Toriel, and Brett, Faire steadied her rifle, armed with the same darts Rea was using. Her first shot got Toriel in the back of the neck, dropping her instantly. Her second shot was complicated, however, by a voice sounding behind her.

"That was an awfully stupid move girlie. It's almost like you want to have a bad time."

* * *

"Er, your majesty?" Brett spoke at last. "Forgive me, but perhaps I may be of assistance."

"What do you propose, Brett?" Asgore asked, not taking his eyes of Rea.

"Only that I shall be the one to take this heathen down." From his backpack, Brett pulled out what appeared to be a long metal rod, easily as tall as he was. At the push of a button, though, two lethal-looking, curved blades extended out from opposite sides of the pole, effectively creating a dual-bladed scythe. "You should not have to trouble yourself, milord. I assure you, I am well versed in combat."

"W-where is this coming from?" Asgore asked, wondering what had happened to the timid boy who had been standing there moments before.

"Oh, did Alphys not tell you about her new experiment?" Seeing Asgore's look of confusion, Brett grinned. "Oh, wonderful, that means I have the pleasure of explaining it to you, then. Alphys's new experiment: what happens when you insert DETERMINATION into a machine, without using a soul as a catalyst?"

"W-wait, you're…a robot!?" Rea asked.

"Indeed." To prove his point, Brett rotated his head a full three hundred and sixty degrees, showing no obvious signs of discomfort. "Alphys even programmed me with a backstory: When I was a child, my father abandoned my mother for a monster. This has given me a hatred of both species, hidden under an unhealthy belief that the world would be better off without me. I was supposed to keep this persona up for some time, but, considering this human just attacked my creator, I suppose there is no other option." He pointed his scythe at Rea. "Human. You have been a most interesting prospect. I cannot wait to dissect you." He turned to Asgore. "You are no longer required. Take Ms. Toriel and get to a safe location. I shall deal with this heathen. Oh, and my name isn't Brett. Nor is it Chrome. Those were simply aliases to keep my identity safe. I am MettatΩn!"

* * *

Not so far away, another dark-haired boy was wandering into a strange town. "Is there anyone here?" he called out, eliciting no response. "Strange, the message said to meet her here. I wonder what's holding her up?"

"Hey, sorry I'm late," a blonde girl appeared from around the street corner, seeming to be in a hurry. "You the guy I'm looking for?"

"That depends. Are you Sylvie?"

"Only if you're Clyde."

The dark-haired boy grinned. "That I am. So, may I ask what the plan is from here?"

The girl called Sylvie grinned, too. "Ain't that obvious? We find the other five. After that," she shrugged her shoulders, "well, damned if I know what happens after that."

"If those visions we saw are to be believed, then we die," Clyde muttered.

"Well, if that's the case, then we'd better get started!"

 **Hey, guys! This was a long chapter, but we've got a much bigger one next time. After all what have we got to cover?**

 **1\. Rea vs. MettatΩn & Asgore**

 **2\. Faire vs. her "mysterious assailant." (Hint: It's Sans. (I suck at giving hints.))**

 **3: The all new characters, Clyde and Sylvie.**

 **4: What's going on with Gaster.**

 **5: What's going on with Flowey.**

 **6: What's going on with Frisk.**

 **7: What Rea's DETERMINATION is.**

 **8\. What Faire's DETERMINATION is.**

 **9: What DETERMIATION is. (this time, I swear.)**

 **10: Who or what the actual fuck MettatΩn is.**

 **Until then, hope you guys enjoy, and remember to comment/critique, as it really means a lot to me.**


	6. Part 1-Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not Undertale or any of the Undertale-based terms here.

-Part 1-

-Chapter 5: REVISE-

"I'm telling you, Faire, that was a really stupid idea," Sans chuckled.

Before Faire could recognize what was going on, she was sent flying almost immediately. She recognized the voice as Sans, but couldn't find him no matter where she looked. She would fly into the air, hover for a few seconds, and then get slammed into a ledge or the ground, usually quite painfully. After this had happened ten or so times, she managed to take a moment and reload her rifle. It was much slower than Rea's revolver, but when she found her target, it was an almost guaranteed hit.

She waited for a second, crouching low to the ground. He always said something before his attack…

"So, princess, what's it gonna be? You want to apologize, or have you still not learned your lesson?"

There it was. She turned towards the voice and looked through the scope. The bastard was standing almost a mile away, and Faire was still getting her ass kicked by him. She steadied her breathing, adjusted for distance, and squeezed the trigger. Bullseye. The dark hit true, landing directly in Sans's chest, dropping the monster.

"Faire, I don't think you understand." Faire only now realized her mistake. If Sans had been almost a mile away, how would she have been able to hear him? No, that wasn't Sans…

"When I give you the option to give up, it's usually a good idea to give up," Sans's voice called from behind her. She turned to shoot, but her gun was thrown from her hands and Faire herself was sent sprawling. She started crawling towards a ledge in an attempt to escape, but it was way too late for that.

"Trying to escape, huh? Really, is it that hard to look me in the socket and tell me you're sorry?" A Gaster Blaster appeared behind him. "I'll count to three."

"One…" Faire was getting close now. At least, she thought she was; it was hard seeing through the blood that was streaming down her face.

"Two…" Dying surely couldn't be so bad, could it? After all, she would be able to see Mom again. And, who knows, maybe Rea would be with her soon enough, too.

"Three." Sans snapped his fingers, and the Blaster unloaded, engulfing Faire's body and sending her corpse flying over the ledge and down the mountain, where it twitched a few times, and was still.

* * *

"F-Faire…" Rea mumbled, not believing what he was seeing. Because it couldn't be possible. Faire just couldn't be dead. That's not how this worked, was it? Faire and Rea were the good guys, and the good guys always won, right? And, even if they had done some bad things, they were still the good guys, right?

"F-Faire…" he said again, louder this time.

"Sans," Asgore said gravely, "that was completely unnecessary."

"I was perfectly justified," Sans responded, seeming to appear out of nowhere. "She had attacked Toriel. I was within my right to fight back."

"But to kill her?" Rea said, voice barely above a whisper. "And I had attacked the others. Hell, I had even attacked your own goddamn brother. So, why her? Was it really because she attacked Toriel?" He stared Sans dead in the eyes, his face devoid of its usual shine. "Or did you just do it to get rid of her?"

"It is of little importance," MettatΩn said, "what his reason was. What matters is that a menace to our society has been exterminated."

Rea was silent. When he spoke, he barely sounded like himself. "I am going to give you three seconds to take that back. A second more, and you'll feel the true extent of my sibling affection."

"I repeat, she was of little importance. The important thing is you thinking that-"

Rea moved his hand in a strange motion, as if he were flipping back the pages in a book, and the world went black.

* * *

-Part 1-

-Chapter 4: REVISE-

 _ **-REVISION ACTIVATED-**_

 _ **-REVISION 1-**_

"I'm telling you, Faire, that was a really stupid idea," Sans chuckled.

"Faire, behind you!" Rea barked into his walkie talkie.

Faire gasped, but spun around instantly, firing off two rounds, both which struck into a very surprised looking Sans. The skeleton stumbled back for a few seconds, then collapsed in a heap.

Asgore looked at Rea in shock. "Wh-what did you just do?"

"Thus is the power of my DETERMINATION." Rea said, cold as ice, eyes having lost their usual shine. "You have just witnessed the power of REVISE. All things in this world leave behind a trail when they perform any action. This trail is the past. Simply put, I have full access to this trail. Granted, my powers are limited to an hour at most, but that's more than I would ever need."

MettatΩn smirked. "Intriguing. This warrants further study. However, if I were to face you here and now, I would most definitely be destroyed. So, for now, I shall make my retreat. I would suggest you do the same, Lord Asgore." He then walked away, past Rea, and down the mountain.

"Human…I now understand that I cannot defeat you as it is now. My heart simply is not in this battle. However…I must ask. What is it you hope to achieve?"

Rea's features softened for the first time since he had heard about Asriel. "I've told you, Asgore. I'm going to save Asriel."

Asgore shook his head. "No, I was aware of that. I mean, what will saving Asriel accomplish? He's been gone for nearly a century now. Even if he were to revived, he would be completely out of the loop, as you humans say. And that's assuming he even can be saved. Rea," Asgore's gaze was piercing, "what makes you so sure you will succeed."

Rea thought about it for a moment. "I'll just have to make sure it takes less than an hour. I'll reset as many times as it takes. I'm bound to get it right eventually, right?"

Asgore was quiet for a long time after that. Long enough for Faire to climb down to where Rea was and pull him into a tight embrace.

"Y-you just saved my life," she said, not entirely sure if it was true or not.

"Very well, humans," Asgore rumbled. "I will allow you passage into the Underworld. However, I do have one request. Please start calling it the Underground instead. Underworld makes us sound like demons."

Faire opened her mouth, but Rea cut her off just in time. "We'll be sure to do that. We won't fail, Asgore."

Asgore grunted approvingly. "I know you won't. You're too bullheaded to fail."

Rea chuckled at that. Probably because it was true. He did another funny gesture with his hand, this one looking more like he was writing something out.

 _ **-REVISION 1 SAVED-**_

 _ **-ALL REVISIONS ENDED-**_

He nodded a little. Frisk treated the world like it was a game; saving, reloading, etc. But, Rea had never been fond of video games. Book, though, were another story. So, why not treat it like the thing he loved? And, with saving, there was no chance of an overwrite. Now, he could just let fate take its course. Unless something bad happened, of course. Then he could always just REVISE and change the way things played out.

Asgore's words shook Rea out of his stupor. "Human, this power you hold…DETERMINATION…I pray you will use it the correct way." He didn't wait to hear an answer before lifting up Toriel's limp body and walking down the mountain after MettatΩn.

* * *

Clyde looked at the instructions Sylvie had given him.

"W-wait," he asked, "you want me to what now?"

"I need you to strip down," Sylvie replied like it was perfectly normal. "How else will I guage your physical abilities?"

"By not violating my privacy?" Clyde attempted, to no avail.

So, a minute later, there he was, in nothing but his boxer, standing before a woman he had known for all of ten minutes. Much to Sylvie's slight embarrassment, he was actually really toned, with a thin line of hair running down his chest, pointing directly to his-

"I'm sorry, Clyde," she spoke before her thoughts got ahead of her, "but I'm going to need you to strip down fully."

"Eh…do I have to?" Clyde asked, blushing deeply.

"Aw, are you embarrassed? That's adorable," Sylvie said, trying to mask her own embarrassment, which just made Clyde blush harder. "But, yes, I'm going to have to see some skin."

Clyde shrugged and did as he was told. Sylvie's eyes widened.

"…O-oh…."

"Would you stop staring at it and just do what you need to get done?" Clyde begged.

"O-of course," Sylvie said, still staring at Clyde's vulnerable body. "I-I'm gonna need you to do a few basic exercises. First of are," she looked at her clipboard and blushed furiously, "…jumping jacks." She glanced up at Cylde and was silent for a long time before speaking. "Let's skip over those for now. Next is…pull ups…." She glanced up again, but spoke much quicker this time. "Let's skip those, too. After that, we have…vertical jump…another skip…"

* * *

The being known as Gaster was staring at the only feature in the room that wasn't wall: a door. It wasn't locked; at least, he didn't think it was. After all, his servants walked through it on a normal basis. And yet, he could not bring himself to open it. He didn't know why. Maybe it was the sense of comfort this room gave him. Or, perhaps, it was a fear of what the outside world held. And so, just like he had been doing for hours now, he continued staring at the door, privately hoping someone would open it.

* * *

Rea and Faire stood above the pit that led into the Underground. There was no turning back from here.

"Ready?" Rea asked.

"R-ready," Faire answered.

"You don't sound very sure of that answer. Would you like to ask the audience for help?"

"Shut up."

"Just trying to lighten the mood."

"I know," Faire said, her voice shaking. "Thank you."

Rea took a step towards the pit. "Why do you think it was Frisk went down there? There aren't any vines around here to trip on. The only way to go in is to jump, unless you're really clumsy."

Faire shrugged. "We'll just have to ask him about it when we get out. Just like we'll have to ask him what DETERMINATION really is."

"I could tell you that," Rea said. "Frisk told me when I was talking to them. Our DETERMINATION is, quite simply our desire to change things. Be it our fate, or somebody else's, DETERMINATION keeps us going, even when things are at their darkest."

"But how does that let you change time?" Faire asked.

"To that question, I have no answer."

"Time to go, then?" Faire asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes," Rea said. "But, I can tell, you want to turn back. So, I'll give you that option. In fact, I'll even make it easy on you." He took a step backwards, and fell into the inky darkness.

Faire cried out and jump to save him. She grabbed wildly, grabbing hold of his hand. Unfortunately, though, her feet had nothing to connect to. All there was below the siblings was a seemingly endless void. Rea chuckled.

"You never could let me go," before the wind drowned out all noise.

Rea was the first to wake up, though rather weakly. He found himself in a bed of golden flowers, with Faire limp right next to him. He tried to check her pulse, but found every time he tried to move, pain flared up his body.

"I see you've awoken," a soothing voice said from behind him. Rea turned to look, just to get dizzy from the pain. "My name," the voice said, "is Asriel Dreemurr."

That's all Rea heard before blacking out again. Though, one thought did go through his head before the blackness overtook his vision: _Well, this is a load of bullshit._

 **Hey, guys! We've finally reached the Underground! And, I even touched on most of the things I meant on touching on! I'm saving Faire's DETERMINATION for a later date, but for now, you've seen one of Rea's more limited uses for his. Next chapter will focus mostly on Clyde and Sylvie getting into the Underground, and what motivates them! Not much else to say here, so, until next time, remember to comment/critique, and I will see you guys later!**


	7. Part 1-Chapter 6

-Part 1-

-Chapter 6: Unholy-

"P-please, I don't have the money right now," the man pleaded.

"Like I give two shits about a lowly worm like you," Iris chuckled. "No, I'm not a collecter." A glowing white sword appeared at her side. "I'm a deliverer."

There was a sickening crunch as the blade fell and white was stained red. Iris kissed the cross necklace she wore and spoke a brief prayer of forgiveness. All these impure beings, hell bent on murdering, stealing, and fornicating. Iris, though, truly was a deliverer. She delivered men to their final judgement…

"Heavenly father, I have delivered yet another sinner into your waiting hands. Forgive my sins, oh mighty Lord, that all might one day be purged in flames."

Her prayer was interrupted by the cell phone vibrating at her side. "This is Iris," she spoke into the receiver.

"My dear, lovely girl, how wonderful it is to hear your voice."

"Likewise, Father. Have you found another unforgivable?"

"Indeed," Father Palow's voice sounded tired, "a pair of siblings, in fact. They have entered the Unholy Land, seeking to raise a demon that shall bring about the end of the world!"

Iris's pulse quickened like it always did when a huge fight was coming. "I need more than that, Father. Age, appearance, names, stuff like that."

"Of course, of course. Their names are Rea and Faire Cooper, ages sixteen and fifteen. There are two more who are on a similar course, and should be dealt with accordingly: Their names are Sylvia Yvette, and Clyde Howard, ages sixteen and seventeen. Be warned, though; none of these children are to be trifled with. They are more powerful that you could possibly imagine!"

"Have they awoken their DETERMINATIONS?"

"As of now, only Rea and Sylvia have fully realized theirs; Clyde is training to awaken his. The sister, though, seems to have a seal placed upon her; she will not awaken for some time now."

"Understood. I shall call back when the deed is done."

"Iris, you have given your entire life to this church. May the will of the Lord shine upon you." With that, he hung up.

Iris was feeling more determined than ever before in her life. Finally, her training would come to fruition. She would battle off against someone else with a DETERMINATION that could rival even hers: She was determined to PURGE this world of sin.

* * *

Sylvia Yvette, better known as Sylvie, charged on ahead while Clyde followed closely behind. While she was obviously enjoying herself, he was clearly not having such a good time. She was having a bad time. A really, really bad time. Having to carry both his own luggage and Sylvie's put a strain on the poor boy, and by the time they reached the opening, he was ready to faint. Sylvie, though, was as full of energy as ever.

"Just think, this is where monsters broke free from the barrier all those years ago!" she bounced on her heels, pointing at the opening in the mountain's side. Clyde, though, did not much feel like stopping to take in the history of the place. Mt. Ebott always put him on edge, even if it was completely safe now. Not that it had ever been unsafe; monsters didn't really mean to attack humans.

"You got the stuff I asked you to get?" Sylvie turned to face Clyde.

Clyde nodded at started pulling the objects out of his pack: some rope, gauze, bandages, tape, gloves, knives, silverware, bread, some meat, a few strange books, a notebook, some strange device used to measure something, a halberd, a berretta, a battleaxe, an M24, a claymore, and finally, a stuffed rabbit. Clyde didn't know why she needed half of those objects, and god knows they were hard to find on short notice, but he had pulled through.

"Good boy," she chided, picking up the battleaxe and slinging it over her shoulder with ease. She also picked up the berretta, which she had requested to be painted a bright, vibrant pink.

"Can I trust you with a gun?" Clyde asked nervously.

"Probably," Sylvie responded simply. Clyde accepted that as the best answer he would get. Clyde himself opted instead for the M24 and the claymore. Just to be safe, though, he decided to take the halberd with him as well. It was scary enough with Sylvie only holding one sharp object.

"So, you ready then?" Sylvie asked, bouncing once again.

"Ready," Clyde looked into the opening. "Now, you are sure this is the right opening, right?"

"I'm sorry, did you just insult my leadership skills?" Sylvie asked, drawing her battleaxe, smile on her face.

Clyde hastily shook his head, and walked with her into the crevice.

* * *

Rea woke up in a strange building, in a strange bed, wearing strange clothes. So, naturally, his first thought was: _Oh my God, I've been abducted by a some creepy pedophile._ His second thought was, _Well, at least I'll get some action._

Hearing Faire's voice woke him up instantly, though. She seemed to be talking with a boy around her age, and, judging by her laughs, he was obviously human. That, or a monsters being tortured. Rea hoped more than anything that it was a human.

When he stood up, he finally got a feel for what he was wearing: it was a dress. Well, more accurately, it was a deep blue robe that fell to his feet, with a strange white symbol in the center. But, as far as Rea was concerned, he was wearing a dress. And that was unacceptable, no matter how pretty he looked and felt. He had to find Faire and figure out what was going on…

"I see you've awoken, child," the voice was back, this time with a body along with it. Rea took one look at the speaker and his brain shut down completely. He was, for lack of a better word, hot. He looked like Toriel and Asgore's son, all right, but he had clearly received the best of both worlds. Lean and muscular, yet also very soft and inviting…

 _Holy shit, I'm getting turned on by a dead goat kid. …Would that count as bestiality, necrophilia, or pedophilia?_ Rea mentally slapped himself. Then he noticed Asriel was holding Faire's hand. Faire, his little sister, who despised monsters, was holding the hand of one.

"Wake me up when things make sense," Rea muttered, crawling back into bed.

"It's not like that, brother," Faire snickered. "Meet Asriel. Asriel Dreemurr."

"Thank you, Faire, but I'm afraid that raises many more questions than it answers."

"If I may be allowed to cut in?" Asriel chimed in. "I should be able to ease some of your confusion."

There was that voice again. Smooth as silk, calm and reassuring. Rea spoke as if in a daze. "Y-yeah, go ahead."

"Thank you. You see, I am indeed Asriel Dreemurr, despite what you may think. This form, however, is merely an illusion. My real form is in the building, but I find people respond much better to this body."

 _I can see why. Hubba-hubba._ Rea mentally smacked himself again.

"Frisk was right about many things during his time in the Underground, but he did make one mistake that I myself made as well. We both believed I would fully revert to Flowey when my soul was lost again. However, due to the memory Frisk implanted within me, I was able to fight back against the darkness and keep my feelings of love and happiness."

Rea stood again and pondered this over. It made sense, but that's not what he was worried about. "So, then, your soul is still damaged?"

"That's an understatement," Asriel chuckled. "It's all but gone. Only through sheer DETERMINATION am I keeping it together."

"But monster's aren't able to handle DETERMINATION in large doses," Faire argued.

"Yeah, but look at Frisk," Rea argued back. "He's taken on some of the qualities only monsters have, despite having an entirely human soul, unlike mine. My power comes from the Amalgamates that are inside me."

"A-Amalgamates?!" Asriel virtually screamed. "Y-you're working with Alphys?!"

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you guys don't like each other?" Rea asked.

"I would think not," Asriel's expression darkened. "She's the one who turned me into Flowey."

"Yeah, that much I knew," Rea said, making Faire jump in surprise, "but there's got to be more than that. I mean, Flowey may be a demonic hell spawn bent on killing everyone in horrifying ways, but even you have to admit, he had some serious power."

Asriel fell silent, smiling sadly. When he spoke, Rea could feel his pain. "I'm sorry. But I can't go back with you guys. But, you're free to leave at any moment. Just be sure to tell Frisk I say hi." He turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Faire rushed to the door and shot a dirty look at Rea.

"And I thought I was heartless."

She slammed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the room.

Rea sat alone in the room, staring at the remnants of his soul. There were a few weak specks of a dull green that popped up every now and then, but it was mostly made of a semi-clear white substance that moved as though it were both a liquid and a gas.

The Amalgamates had given their lives for Rea. Their combined DETERMINATION had saved him from the dead. They believed he would be able to do something with his life. Now, it was the time to prove to them their sacrifice had not been in vain.

He thought back to that date all those years ago. At least, what he remembered of it. There had been tears, mostly from the families of the Amalgamates. There were hugs, kisses, pats on the back, conversations with people he had never met. Mere minutes before, he was dead and gone, his soul ripped almost beyond recognition. Alphys had saved his life. He should have been smiling. So then why be he been so on edge?

 _Maybe Faire's right. Maybe I am just being paranoid. After all, Asriel seems like a nice enough guy. And, if he makes Faire happy, maybe he's a lot nicer than I thought. I'll give him another chance!_

* * *

Iris stood above the entrance to the Underground, blade in one hand and a gun in the other. There had been two guards that tried to stop her, but she disposed of them quickly enough. Their dust now covered her blade, which she wiped off with an annoyed grunt. As nice it was having no body, and therefore no evidence, she did wish monsters didn't make such a mess when they died. How fitting such dirty beings would suffer such a dirty fate. But monsters were not what she was hunting right now.

Father had given her full permission to enter the Underground; the land once ruled by demons would now be host to a Holy Knight. The irony of the whole situation made her shudder. But that was beside the point. What mattered now was eliminating all targets.

She pulled out a grappling hook and latched it to the cavern ceiling, pulling on it to test the durability of the rope. When this checked out, she began her slow descent into the Underground. When she was about halfway down, the hook that was latched to the ceiling gave way. Or, more accurately, was pulled out. But, of course, she had no way of knowing that she had almost been murdered. Instead, she just tucked and rolled, reaching the patch of golden flowers without issue.

She readied her dagger. Whatever was down here, it wouldn't be pretty. Glancing down, though, she saw a much bigger problem. There were her targets, just as they had been described, lying on the ground. Vines were growing all around their bodies, even into their mouths and ears. Between the children sat a smiling golden flower.

"Howdy," the flower spoke. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower! And I'm afraid I can't let you kill these children. After all, they're the first meals that've come down here in a long time!"

 **Hey, guys! Next week is going to be the first actual fight! Not to mention, there are only four chapters left in this Part! After this, only 4 more to go! And, yes, even when he's hallucinating, Rea is telling the truth, he is part Amalgamate. And, to make sure their is no confusion whatsoever: Rea is gay. Like, mega, super-powered, laser-missile guided holy shit give that boy a double rainbow level gay. Other than that, see you guys next time!**


	8. Part 1-Chapter 7

**Hey guys. Normally, I'll put author's notes at the bottom, but in this case I'm willing to make an exception. There's something I feel needs to be said here and now: Thank you. This isn't me messing around or trying to earn some pity points. This is truly sincere; I've never had a story receive this much praise and attention this quickly. So, truly, from the bottom of my heart: Thank you.**

-Part 1-

-Chapter 7: SHARE-

Sylvie and Clyde stared at the scene playing out in front of them from the shadows. The two on the ground were the ones they had seen from their visions, there was no doubt. The flower Clyde recognized from his, but the woman was new to both of them.

"Should we do anything?" Clyde whispered to Sylvie.

"No," Sylvie responded after a pause. "Let's wait and see what happens."

Iris was staring dead into the flower's eyes. "Release these humans at once. They are my prey, not yours."

"What does it matter to you?" Flowey sneered. "They're going to die regardless of what happens. So, why don't you put that little knife of yours away before I get angry?"

"Unacceptable," Iris deadpanned. "As long as you exist, I cannot be satisfied. Such a sinful creature as yourself has no right to existing in my Utopia. Therefore, I shall kill you, and then kill these children, along with the two listening in on us right now."

Sylvie and Clyde jumped. "H-how does she know we're here?" Clyde whimpered.

"If that's who I think it is, I think I have a bad feeling about this," Sylvie said in her usual bubbly way. "Hey there, miss huntress! Listen, we were actually just leaving, so if you would excuse us, we'll be going now-"

A glowing blade flew straight towards Sylvie's head. She ducked, and death missed her by less than an inch. Syvlie's expression tightened, but remained smiling.

"I-I'm sure th-that was just a m-misfire, r-right?" Cylde silently pleaded for it to be true.

"No, that wasn't a miss. That was a warning," Iris called. "You two shall not leave the Underworld alive. However, I must kill this vile being before it completely absorbs my targets. So, I shall allow you a five minute head start while I take care of this," she gestured to Flowey.

"Hehehe, do you really think you can kill me in FIVE MINUTES?!" Flowey shrieked. "I shall enjoy killing you!"

Clyde made to say something, but Sylvie stopped him. "We should go while we still can. I know this girl. When she says she won't allow us to leave the Underworld, she means it. If we can get out alive, though, she'll allow us our freedom for some time. Does that sound right, Commander?" Sylvie growled.

Iris snickered a little. Sylvia Yvette. Iris knew she had heard that name before. "You always were quick to pick up on things, Lieutenant. Indeed, should you escape the Underworld before I can catch you, I will allow your continued existence for a time. However, I still wish to reserve the joy of seeing your dying face to myself."

Sylvie nodded. "Very well. Let's go, Clyde. We can't beat her. Not now, at least." She took Cylde's hand, and they ran down the long passage that lead back into the ruins they had come from.

"And as for you," Iris turned on Flowey, "I shall keep those same rules; should you survive against me for longer than five minutes, I shall allow your survival indefinitely; you are of little consequence to me. It is the children I wish to kill. However, be warned, I am not someone to be trifled with."

Flowey glared back. "I'll enjoy absorbing you."

Iris narrowed her eyes. It was murder time.

* * *

"Y-you know her?" Cylde gasped, trying to keep up with Sylvie, who showed no signs of fatigue, even after three minutes of full-powered sprinting.

"Indeed. Her name is Irisveil Weiss. She's a cold-hearted assassin who serves the Church. She would like nothing more that to kill everything that she lays eyes on. I worked under her for some time as her apprentice, but backed out when it got too intense."

"W-wait, you're an assassin?!"

"Yes, that's one way of looking at it. The other way it that you should be nicer to me from now on."

"Y-yes ma'am…"

* * *

Vines and white "friendliness pellets" had raged around Iris for the last few minutes, which she cut down with ease. Honestly, she had hoped for more against such a so-called 'powerful' enemy. Not a single blow had connected with her body, and she hadn't even used her DETERMINATION yet. Ugh, how boring.

Another vine swung towards her face, and she ducked with a sigh. This time, though, Flowey had a plan. The vine swung in mid-air and crashed into Iris's gut, causing her to stumble. Seeing an opening, Flowey sent out a barrage of bullets, which Iris received the full grunt of. When this happened, she smiled evilly.

 _Finally, time for some real fun._

White blades appeared all around her, floating lazily. She swung her arm, sending a number of them spiraling towards Flowey, who quickly ducked underground to dodge. He popped up, looking frustrated.

"Damn, I can't beat her. But maybe I can avoid her…"

Iris pushed her hand into the ground, sending a rain of blades crashing into the earth below her. Flowey shrieked and went underground again. Iris flicked her hand up, and countless swords popped up from the ground like spikes, one of which had Flowey wrapped around it, looking dazed, but overall quite unharmed.

Iris raised her hand to land a lethal blow, when her watch started beeping. She glanced at it, and saw, with more than a little annoyance, five minutes had passed. The swords vanished from all around her, and Flowey fell to the ground again.

"You got lucky this time, flower. Next time we meet, I will not be so forgiving. I leave you now to feed off your prey." Iris gesture to the area where Rea and Faire laid. Or, more accurately, where Rea and Faire HAD laid. Now, there were just a few piles of vines and some ripped pieces of cloth. The siblings had escaped when Flowey was dazed, Iris realized. She turned to face said flower, who was still looking a little loopy.

"I should kill you now, and spare you the misery of living another moment. However, I understand now why they were here. And I believe you do too, Prince Asriel Dreemurr. And leaving you in this state is more torture than I could ever inflict."

Iris departed before Flowey could respond.

* * *

Rea stumbled down the passageway, blood pouring from his side. He had gotten separated from Faire during their escape, and was currently about two minutes away from bleeding out. While he was running, one of Iris's blades tore through his side like it was paper. The Tem armor blocked the majority of the hit, and it was the reason he was still alive right now. He wished he could survive long enough to apologize to Temmie.

He could feel his body growing cold and numb as he was losing his vital liquid. Despite this, he found himself smiling. _I've been down here only a few hours, and I'm already going to die. Even if I do survive, there's no way I'll last long enough to save Asriel…_

He heard Faire calling his name from far away. Was she far away? Or was she actually really close? It didn't matter at the moment. He needed help.

He tried to call, but all that came out was a gurgling noise. He could try to REVISE, but all it would do is put Faire back in danger. He also ran the risk of a stray blade killing him then and there. No, this was for the best. Faire would keep going. Even if she would only hate monsters even more, she would keep going, if only to make Rea happy.

He tried to call out again, and this time he actually got something out. It was slurred from the blood, but it vaguely resembled a call for help. He waited for a moment. Then another. He felt his legs give out from under him, and he fell in a heap to the ground. He waited one final moment.

* * *

Mere moments after Rea had fainted, Syvlie rounded a corner and found him lying there.

"Clyde, get me a first aid kit, stat," she barked.

Clyde did as he was told, visibly shaken at the sight of so much blood pooling under Rea.

"Alright, stay with me, buddy, stay with me," Faire muttered as she set to work. It didn't look good; when the blade hit the armor, it managed to pierce part of it. It wasn't a huge wound, but it was deep. Frankly, another inch in and Rea would have died instantly.

"Clyde, go on guard duty. If you see Iris, DO NOT try to fight her. As bitches go, she's the alpha for a reason. The best you can hope to do is run. She'll go after you, so I want you to lead her here. The only person with even the slightest chance of holding her off is me. While she's distracted with me, take this boy and run. Run fast, and run far. I can't promise you'll make it, but you'll stand a much higher chance this way."

Clyde nodded and unsheathed his claymore. "Do you really think you can beat her?"

Sylvie shook her head. "Who said anything about beating her? I said I could hold her off. If I fight her, here and now, I would surely be killed. But I would be able to buy you guys enough time to escape."

Clyde was silent for a long time after that, but eventually ran off to do as he was told.

He took roughly three steps around the corner before ramming into a girl who was half her height.

Faire looked at the huge boy in front of her and flushed. _Please be on my side, please be on my side…_

"W-who are you?" the boy muttered, and Faire noticed, much to her surprise, he was blushing.

"I'm Faire. Who are you?"

"C-Clyde. I-is Rea your b-b-brother?"

"Having some trouble speaking, big boy?" Faire murmured. "And what's it to you?"

"W-well, he's right around this corner. I'm not sure you're going to like what you see, though…"

Faire needed a moment to let this sink in. When it did, it all occurred to her at once. "Oh god, he's hurt, isn't he?"

Clyde's silence was all Faire needed. She rushed around the bend, only to see her beloved brother lying in a pool of his own blood.

She noise of despair she made was one no person ever wanted to hear.

* * *

From deep within the temple, a huntress heard the call of her prey. Now she knew where to hunt.

* * *

"You stupid girl," Sylvie growled. "You've just given away our position to the enemy!"

Faire wasn't listening. She had sunk to her knees, tears streaming down her face. How could this have happened? She leaves Rea alone for all of five minutes, and he goes and dies on her?

"He's not dead, if that's what you're thinking," Sylvie muttered, softening a little. "He's just really badly wounded. Moving him now would almost guarantee his demise. However, if Iris finds him, he's as good as dead in that case, too. So, that leaves only one option." She rose slowly, pulling the battleaxe from the ground next to her.

"Y-you just said we couldn't beat her!" Clyde recalled.

"Wrong again, buddy boy. I said I couldn't beat her. Neither could you, nor this girl, or her brother. Fighting against Iris is like a ten on one battle."

"Eh, Sylvie, was it? I think you're mistaken. Even if we work together, we'd still be outmatched."

Sylvie shook her head. "I count as seven."

Iris rounded the corner and saw four figures standing there. Well, three figures and one heap.

"Back down, Captain, you can't beat four of us at once!"

Iris's reply was monotonous. "Incorrect. One of your teammates is not even able to move without putting himself in danger, much less fight. One of your teammates in borderline wetting himself. And the last one has been sealed, so she is of little concern to me."

Syvlie chuckled. "That much is true, but have you forgotten my DETERMINATION? I want a world where everyone can SHARE in their happiness. So, my new friends, will you not SHARE with me some of your power?"

Her allies souls glowed faintly for a second, and she felt a rush as their power was loaned to her. She tossed the battleaxe to the side and held her hand out to Clyde. "I always did prefer swords."

Clyde wordlessly handed her the claymore.

"Thank you, darling. Now, you will no longer be required. Iris has proven to me that this is a losing battle. But, I'll be able to give you enough time to escape. Just, to be careful with the boy, will you? He's awfully delicate at the moment."

Clyde nodded and gingerly picked Rea up like a newborn. "Sylvie? Just promise me one thing."

Syvlie grunted to indicate she was listening.

"Promise me, you won't just give up. Promise me…and everyone here…that you will stay DETERMINED!"

 **Hey, guys! This is going to be a pretty long Author's Note, so feel free to skip over it if you want. There isn't going to be anything really major, just some scheduling stuff and me ranting about nothing important. So, other than you guys being completely awesome, you've also proven to be very patient with my schedule; while my profile said every Thursday and Sunday. However, with my classes, I've found it is COMPLETELY impossible for me to actually have an accurate schedule and be able to keep to it. However, I can still promise you one thing: I will update at the very least once every other week. There may be some weeks where you get three chapters, and others where you'll just have none, and, while I do apologize for that, I'm going to say this right now: the most common occurrence is going to be once or twice a week. Now, onto your guys' reviews: Oh. My. God. You guys are way too nice for your own good. I've not received a single negative review as of yet, and, while that is really nice, it is kind of nerve-wracking, so I'm going to say this again, with all my heart: DO NOT BE AFRAID TO CRITIQUE. I can take it, and I would actually enjoy reading a bad review or two; it tells me what I need to review on. You notice a spelling error? TELL ME. See a grammatical error? TELL ME! Something doesn't make sense? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, TELL ME! I have the advantage of knowing what I mean when I write things; you guys don't. That's not to say you can't post positive reviews, just that some constructive criticism would be appreciated now and then. It's the only way for me to get better as a writer!**

 **tl;dr version: I'll update whenever I want/can, and you if you guys could critique more, it would be appreciated.**

 **Other than that, see you guys next time!**


	9. Part 1-Chapter 8

-Part 1-

-Chapter 9: Passage-

When Rea woke up, he was being carried by a stranger down a long tunnel. He resigned himself to the fact that this wasn't even the most worrying thing that had happened that day. When compared to having his brain scrambled by a plant and almost dying because of some bitch that could use magic, it was downright normal.

"So, you kidnapping me?" he spoke, causing the boy to jump and stop dead.

"Y-you're awake!"

"You know it, buddy, and glad to be back. So, who are you? And where's Faire?"

"I'm right here," Faire's voice came from behind Rea's head. He tried to turn to look at her, but even that simple act sent waves of pain coursing through his body.

"Take it easy, Rea, you've almost died once so far today," Faire said, trying to sound cheerful. In reality, she was terrified. Losing Rea was slowly becoming a very real possibility.

Rea opened his mouth, but was cut off by a woman's war cry from behind them.

Clyde muttered something that Rea couldn't make out.

"What was that?" Rea asked.

"Sounds like the fight is starting to heat up behind us. We should pick up the pace. Sylvie may be able to hold her for a while, but even she admitted that she can't win," Faire said.

"That's not true," Clyde whispered. "She told me she'd come back…"

* * *

Sylvie was leaving heavily on the claymore for support. The fight had barely begun, and she was already getting worn out. The souls she had borrowed she released almost immediately. That had just been to reassure Clyde. The truth was, if she died with their souls inside of her, they would probably die with her. And she wouldn't allow that.

"You've grown stronger, my pupil," Iris spoke, more swords appearing at her side. Sylvie thought back to the day she had first asked about them.

"Isn't that magic, not DETERMINATION?" she recalled asking.

"Not quite, Sylvia. You see, DETERMINATION manifests in the form most helpful to its user. Take, for example. Frisk. They needed their DETERMINATION so they could try to save everyone. Even from certain death, their SAVE manifested to help Frisk."

"So, they are your DETERMINATION?" Sylvie had asked.

"Indeed. These blades manifest with my desire to PUFIRY this world. So, while they may appear to be magic, they are only personifications of my SOUL."

"Personification? I thought they were swords."

It hadn't been long after that conversation that light turned to darkness, and PURIFY turned to PURGE.

* * *

Clyde was having some trouble retracing his steps back to the exit. Was it north at the remains of Snowdin, or east? Then there was Waterfall, with its constant dead ends, twists, and disproportionately small gaps. It didn't help that Rea had passed out again, leaving Clyde to carry around his weight.

He did fine though, for a while. However, he made one wrong turn and found himself facing something he wasn't expecting: a raft with a hooded figure at the helm.

"~La di da. Would you like to ride in my raft?"

"Can you take us to the exit of the Underground?" Faire asked, visibly nervous.

"I'm afraid not, but I can get you to the Core, di da."

"That will be more than necessary. What is your charge?" Clyde asked.

"For a prince such as yourself, there will be no charge."

Faire turned to Clyde, who was just as confused as she was. "I'm sorry, did you just call me a…prince? I think you may have the wrong person."

"Oh no, Clyde, I am sure I have the right person. Now, climb on board. The ride is much shorter than you would expect."

 _It has to be a trap_ , Faire thought to herself, _but it's our best shot at escaping._

The three of them climbed on board, and the raft began moving, the hooded man not moving an inch.

None of them spoke for the full journey. Rea woke up and stumbled to his feet, muc to Faire's concern, and started unwrapping some of his gauze around his neck, creating a makeshift scarf. He also took three individual bandages and placed them on either side of his chin and across the bridge of his nose. Faire gave him a questioning look, which Rea returned with a sly grin.

When they reached the core a few minutes later, Faire was seriously dying to ask why he was wearing bandages, but she didn't want to break the silence of the raft. The second they stepped off, however, Rea answered the question she never asked: "Because they look cool."

Faire couldn't argue with that logic, no matter how she tried. She turned to Clyde, only to see he had remained on the raft.

"I have to go back and help Sylvie," he said simply.

Faire made to argue, but Rea cut her off. "You realize you'll be walking directly into your death, right?"

"I could say the same thing about you coming down here in the first place," Clyde responded. Rea smirked a little, then nodded. "Fine. But take Faire with you."

Clyde and Faire exclaimed the exact same thing at the exact same time: "Why!?"

"In my current state, I'll have no chance of protecting Faire if anything should happen. Besides, it was me that girl was after."

"Which is all the more reason I should stay with you! If she catches up with you, you'd die! And you've only just started walking again! There's no way you could make it out in your condition!"

Rea squeezed Faire's shoulder. "Faire, please. Go with Clyde, and save Sylvie. It shouldn't be far now, am I correct?" Rea asked Clyde, who shook his head.

"Nah, there's a lift that will bring you to the throne room. Just past that is the exit to the Underground. Even in your state, you shouldn't have much of a problem."

Rea nodded. "There you have it. Go help these guys. I'll be waiting for you on the outside, maybe even with Asriel."

"You really still want to save him, even after he brainwashed us?"

"That wasn't Asriel, that was Flowey. Everything bad that he did was Flowey."

"Do you have any idea how you're going to save him?" Clyde asked.

"None whatsoever. But, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Take care of yourself, Faire. And Clyde, if anything should happen to her, I'm going to blame you."

Faire embraced her brother, then ran back to the raft. Rea watched it row away, slowly fading into the fog, before it was gone out of sight.

"You look anxious," Clyde told Faire.

"I just felt a terrible chill..." she muttered.

* * *

Rea marched up the stairs to the MTT brand hotel. Twenty years of disuse had worn on it terribly, and it resembled to ruins at the entrance of the Underground. The double doors were barely hanging onto their hinges, and the once vibrant and noisy building had fallen dark and silent.

Rea walked into the lobby, amused by the fact the motion sensors still turned on the lights for him. It gave him a perfect view of the boy standing on the opposite side of the fountain, eyes downcast.

"Excuse me? Who are you?"

The boy jumped as if shot, looking Rea in the eyes. Whoever this kid was, he had obviously gone through some seriously tough stuff in life. He was virtually skin and bones, his eyes wild and bloodshot. His brown hair was either matted or very burnt looking. But, when he looked at Rea, he smiled like he was greeting an old friend.

"Greetings!" The boy cried out, spreading his arms. "Welcome to my own, special Hell!"

"I'm sorry?" Rea asked.

The boy slumped a little, smile still on his face. "I am Simon. I've been waiting for someone like you for some time now!"

Rea finally got a good look at how the boy was dressed. A worn blue neckerchief hung loosely around his neck, covered by an equally worn-looking brown jacket worn over a dull green shirt. Jeans several sizes too big were barely held up by a belt that looked more like a piece of twine. On his feet were extremely well-used combat boots, and fingerless leather gloves adorned his hands.

"Heh, do you like what you see?" The boy asked, still smiling.

"What are you doing down here," Rea deflected the question.

"I asked you first," Simon said in a sing-song voice, irritating Rea.

"Listen, either get out of my way or prepare to fight!"

Simon chuckled. "Oh, I'm afraid that, if we were to fight, you would be nothing more than a plaything for me."

Rea scowled, pulling out his knife. "Try me."

Simon shrugged. "So be it." He charged towards the fountain, clearing it with a superhuman leap, and landed directly in front of Rea. "If you truly believe you can beat me, I'll give you one minute where I will not fight back. The second that minute ends, however, you will die."

Rea held his knife at the ready. Simon was obviously not human, otherwise he wouldn't be able to make that jump. And, unless He was wrong, monsters are capable of using magic. Rea knew Simon had an ace up his sleeve. It was only a matter of when he used it.

Rea shook himself from his stupor. Holding his knife in front of him, he charged without another thought.

* * *

Iris stood over the still body of Sylvie. She kneeled down and checked the blonde's pulse. It was still there, but it was very weak. In this condition, she had another minute before her life would end. Iris nodded and removed her swords. There was no more need for them at the moment. She strutted past Sylvie, stopping for a moment to glance back at her pupil. Her pulse quickened as she realized Sylvie was gone.

"Clyde," Sylvie muttered weakly as the boy rounded another corner. They had been running for only a minute of two, but they had still cleared a respectable amount of area between themselves and their assailant. "Why are you here?"

"Isn't that obvious? I'm saving you!"

Sylvie smiled grimly. "But then…who will save you?"

Just as Clyde was going to ask what Sylvie meant, one of Iris's swords ripped through his right knee. He hit the ground. Hard.

"You stupid boy," Iris scolded. "Did you really think you could escape me? Now, I don't know how you managed to get this girl from under my nose, but I'm afraid that doesn't matter now. What does matter is that I am going to kill you, and this time, I will make short work of it."

Clyde was still for a few moments, then started laughing. Iris's eyes narrowed.

"I'm afraid I don't see the humor in this situation!"

"Oh believe me, I can definitely see what's so funny. Unfortunately, you can only see what's false!" He let out one last laugh before Sylvie and he vanished.

Around the corner, Toriel chuckled.

* * *

"Nice job Tori!" Asgore cried into his phone as he carried Sylvie to safety. "That was indeed a respectable illusion!"

"Don't try to flatter me, Dreemurr," Asgore could feel her icy glare even through the phone's receiver. "Just take the girl and get her to the surface. Use the shortcut you know so much about."

Asgore blushed furiously, but did as he was told, grabbing one of the many candles that hung on the wall and pulling down with all his might. A little to his left, the wall swung open on a latch, revealing a hidden passage that would lead directly to the palace. Well, more accurately, the Core, but his design team wasn't the best. And, besides, it was close enough, wasn't it?

* * *

Rea was flat on his back, staring in shock at the ceiling. Simon had stayed true to his word; for the first minute of the fight, he hadn't even tried to fight back. The very moment sixty seconds had passed, though, as single hit was all it took to knock Rea down.

Simon walked slowly until he was leaning directly over Rea. Rea expected many things to happen: the most likely event would be his demise. What he was not expecting, however, was for Simon to pull him into a deep kiss. It only lasted a second, but that was long enough to scramble Rea's brain sufficiently.

"My goodness, you are a tasty one, aren't you?" Simon chided, mere inches away from Rea's face. "And you put of such a good fight. Goddamn, I've never gotten this excited by anyone this quickly."

Rea still found speech impossible. He barely knew this kid, but here he was kissing him? He heard Simon speaking again, but he barely comprehended the words, due mostly to the fact that he felt the other boy slowly undoing his belt.

"I can't wait to taste your delicious sweat from your quivering body. Let's see what your blood tastes like," he let out an insane laugh, and pulled a switchblade from his back pocket. His free hand dug deeply into Rea's wound, causing it to start bleeding again.

Rea struggled to stay conscious. Fainting here would surely be the death of him at the hands of this lunatic. Simon saw his struggle and could barely contain himself any longer.

"Whoever you are, I hope you know this much, at least: you've been a most marvelous plaything!" He was stopped, however, by the sound of the door to the right opening and a deep voice reassuring someone. He groaned and scowled. "Why does something always have to ruin my fun? Listen here, friend, I'm not done with you, not by a long shot. So, why don't you hold onto this for me?" He said, slipping something into Rea's back pocket, not even trying to mask the fact that this also gave him a chance to grope the helpless boy. When this was done, he stood and exited the building. All this he did in a matter of seconds.

Rea stumbled to his feet just as Asgore entered the room. The second he was spotted, Rea was virtually engulfed by goat.

"L-listen, Asgore? I know you're happy to see me, but I'm having a bit of trouble breathing!"

Asgore smiled and released Rea, who took a deep breath. It seemed like he had been getting beaten up all day.

"T-thanks."

"It was no big deal, really! And it's Toriel that you should be thanking, after all this was her idea," Asgore grinned.

"Even I must admit, Asgore, you performed well today," Toriel muttered, walking through the same opening, followed closely by Clyde and Faire. "By the way, I found these two wandering around the ruins looking for the girl. How is she, by the way?"

Asgore's face darkened considerably. Rea could see why. Sylvie was covered with cuts and bruises, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was her left arm. Or, more accurately, her lack of a left arm. Instead, there was simply a bloody stump a little above where her elbow should have been.

"Do you think you can help her?" Rea asked Toriel, who nodded.

"My healing has helped cases far worse than hers. However, I'm afraid I cannot bring back her arm."

Rea stared at Sylvie's body, and a terrible thought ran through his head.

"You guys came here from the ruins, right?" Toriel nodded. "And is that passage still open?" Toriel nodded, her eyes growing wide as she at last understood. She turned just in time to avoid a blade that was aimed directly at her head.

"Everyone, fall back!" We can't beat her like this," Faire ordered, pointing everyone in the direction of the lift that led to the palace on the opposite side of the room. Faire and Asgore ran towards it. Rea, Clyde, and Toriel stayed in their positions.

"Foolish children, you cannot defeat her," Toriel muttered to Rea and Clyde, each of whom had pulled out their weapons.

Rea smirked. "I could say the same to you. Faire, take Asgore and Sylvie and get out of here!"

Syvlie shook her head and stood instead next to her brother. "I've already lost you once today. Even if we do die, at least we'll still be together."

Rea didn't even try to argue, knowing it was pointless. Instead, he just nodded. "Asgore, take Sylvie and get out of here. Get her to a hospital as soon as you can. We'll hold of Iris here."

"But I-" Asgore made to argue, but Toriel glared at him.

"This is your chance to redeem yourself," her expression softened, "Gorey."

Asgore Dreemurr stood dumbstruck for only a second, before charging towards the elevator and pressing the button. Rea's last look at him before the doors slammed shut showed a man (goat?) who looked tired, sad, but above all else, DETERMINED.

"You ready, Teach?" Rea asked, holding his own knife at the ready.

"I'm more worried about you two," she responded, fire engulfing her hands.

"You don't need to worry about me," Faire grunted, pulling out her rifle. "I just hope you won't go too far, like monsters always do."

"Faire, must you always choose the most inopportune times to show your racism? How're you holding up, Clyde?"

"I-I'll be okay. I need to show what I can really do," Clyde mumbled, taking out his halberd from earlier.

"That makes all of us, then," Rea said, his eyes flashing green. "I think it's about time you showed yourself!"

Iris strutted out of the passage, looking very pissed off. It had clearly been a very one-sided fight. While Sylvie had lost one of her major body parts, Iris didn't look like she had a scratch on her. That didn't stop her from looking very capable of murder, however.

"You…you impure monsters," she said, hatred dripping from her every word. "How dare you defy a Holy Knight such as myself with your impure presence? But now, none of that matters any more. FACE JUDGEMENT!"

 **Hey, guys! Next chapter is going to be a lot of fun, but it's also going to be the penultimate chapter of this part. You may be asking yourself: "Did Rea do anything so far that has even remotely helped Asriel?" The answer, quite simply, is no. That will be chapter 10. Chapter 9 is just going to be fighting. That's literally all it is. After chapter 10, there will be a brief hiatus as I plan out the next part, probably lasting a month. During this hiatus, I may post a filler or two, just to keep you guys entertained. For now, though, just keep in mind that there is going to be at least one dead person by the end of Chapter 9! Remember to comment/critique if you see anything, and I will see you guys next time!**


	10. Part 1-Chapter 9

-Part 1-

-Chapter 9: SAVE-

 **Revision 13**

Clyde charged towards Iris, fury in his eyes. Rea tried to call out, to warn him that this very maneuver had killed him last time, but it was too late. Iris sent a sword flying towards Clyde. It ripped through his head, leaving only a bloody stump that was his neck. His body lingered for a moment, before hitting the ground with a dull thud.

 **Revision 29**

Faire was in the back, supporting with her rifle. She took aim, waited to breathe, and shot. The bullet missed by only an inch, but it was enough to alert Iris to her position. A blade flew directly into Faire's chest. She coughed for a second, red spilling from her lips…

 **Revision 45**

Toriel was breathing heavily. This much magical output was really wearing down her body. But she would not give up easily! She sent another barrage of flames towards Iris, who deflected them with ease and sent back a volley of her own weapons. One blade managed to get lucky, and sliced Toriel in half. Her dust spread to the ground…

 **Revision 131**

Rea was almost sobbing uncontrollably by this point. One hundred and thirty-one times. That's how many times he'd been forced to watch his allies die in new and more horrifying ways. Who was to say it would be this way one hundred and thirty-one more times? Or, heaven forbid, it would never end? Was this perhaps a fight that somebody had to die in?

In his distraction, he narrowly dodged another of Iris's blades. He had killed her several times, as well, but he would not be satisfied until everyone here could live. Even Iris didn't deserve to die. In Rea's mind, nobody deserved to die.

Clyde ran to charge Iris, a move Rea had seen multiple times. One that was bound to end in his death. Rea prepared to use REVISE again, when something odd happened. The sword that was destined to end Clyde's life simply missed. Rea felt a chill go up his spine. Something was wrong. Why was this time any different?

Clyde, who was not worried about this anomaly, rammed the spearhead of the halberd into Iris's shoulder. The Holy Knight shrieked, but not in pain. This was pure, blind rage. All pain was lost on her; all emotions were simply shut down to prevent their getting in the way. She ripped the weapon from her shoulder and raised it high above her head. _Here it comes,_ Rea thought, seeing Iris starting to bring the axe section down on Clyde's head and preparing REVISE yet again. _Here comes the bloodbath._

Clyde, however, was ahead of his would-be assailant. He ducked low to the ground, kicking Iris's legs out from under her. Faire, seeing her chance from across the room, took aim and fired. Iris twisted in midair to dodge the bullet, which ended up only grazing her chin.

With nimbleness that came with years of practice, Iris landed on her wrist, which sent her into a backwards somersault. Toriel, anticipating this, sent a burst of flames that scored a direct hit on the Knight. She was flung into the air, where she seemed to hang for a second. Faire aimed again, and before Rea could tell her to stop, to beg her to show mercy, released another shit that traveled directly through Iris's heart.

Iris stared at the ceiling in shock. All at once, everything went dark. A light appeared before her. "F-father?' she choked out. "Is that you? O-or…is it just…an…il..lus..i….on…"

She hit the ground with a dull thud.

Her soul rose from her corpse, a pale blue that pulsed gently, like a heartbeat. Rea was still in shock, and was more conflicted than ever. On one hand, they had managed to beat Iris without losing any of his allies, but Faire had still killed her. Was there really no other option? And, now that Rea thought about it, hadn't it been Toriel's flames that sent her into the line of fire? It would have been easy to simply knock her unconscious, or leave her in no condition to fight, but Toriel must have known full well what would have happened.

The only one who was truly innocent was Clyde. But, was he though? His trip had been what started a chain reaction that lead to Iris's death. Even if he didn't mean to, he was still equally responsible, wasn't he? _But, then again, so am I,_ Rea thought to himself. _After all, I had no trouble revising whenever one of my teammates died. By not revising, aren't I simply allowing her death, or even encouraging it? Besides, it was be entering the Underground that started this. It was all my fault, it was all my fault, it was all my fault, it was all my fault, it was all my fault, it was all my fault, it was-._

"It was all my fault," Rea muttered out loud, "it was all my fault."

"Rea?" Faire's voice brought him back to reality. She looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

[ _No]_ "Yeah, I'm fine. Just taking it all in. I mean…we just killed a person, didn't we? That's a little shocking, considering I came down here to bring a person back from the dead." [ _You monster, you're the one who killed her. You're a murderer, and I'm a monster.]_

"I'm just as shocked as you are," Clyde sighed ] _shut up you bastard you're just as responsible as she is]._ "I…I'm kind of the one who did it, aren't I?"

[ _Yes]_ "No, you're not," Rea reassured [ _Damn right you started it, you monster]_ Clyde.

"Well, what's important is that a menace to society is no more," Toriel [ _I've heard those words before]_ said. She smiled sadly, gazing down [ _it was when Sans killed Faire]_ at Iris's _[you were there]_ body, trying to take _(you knew what had happened)_ it all in.

Rea clutched his head, trying to get over the migraine [ _ideas]_ and deny the lies [ _truth_ ].

He was presented with an option:

 **SAVE REVISION? (WARNING, THIS WILL DELETE NON-SAVED REVISIONS)**

 **-YES- -NO-**

[ _Don't do it. Delete it all, reset everything back to the beginning.] My friends would be in danger again. [But are they truly your friends? You just witnessed them kill in cold blood.] Do you think that changes who they are? [Are you truly so naïve to think they won't kill again?] They were just protecting themselves. [Not at the end they weren't.] I don't understand what you're getting at? [Yes you do.] I [am] who [you] truly [are.] I [am] the [madness] that [is] inside [of] you. [Your] alter [ego,] so [to] speak. [But] how [long] do [you] think [you] can [keep] me [separated] from [you?] Soon, [we] will [be] one [and] the [same.] [Soon, I will be the one in charge.]_

 _But not today._

 **REVISION SAVED**

 _[So, you stayed around long enough to spoil all the fun. Oh well, it matters not. I'll be back, sooner than you might imagine.]_

The voice fell silent.

Rea gazed down at the corpse of the woman he had just killed. Now that he finally got a good look at her, he fully realized how pretty she was. She wasn't gorgeous, she wasn't hot. She was just pretty. And extremely forgettable. This, Rea reminded himself, was a good feature to have for a woman with a job like hers.

Toriel came up behind him and placed a paw softly on his shoulder. He turned and gazed into her eyes. He hadn't realized before, but she looked very tired.

"Come, my child," she said softly. "It's time for us to leave this place."

Rea nodded, and walked away. He stepped around holes that their battle had left behind. Faire would later say how lucky it was that no one was killed. Rea knew better. Rea knew the truth. And, for now, it was better that he alone knew the truth.

"D-did we actually do it?" Clyde said, shock finally setting in. "I-is it over?"

Rea shook his head. "No. There's still one more thing that needs to be done. And this time, I have to do it alone. Toriel, I'm trusting you to take Clyde to the surface. In case something goes wrong, I can't put anyone else in danger. Not this time. Clyde, Toriel, thank you. I love you guys, so damn much. But from here on, this is where our paths diverge. Faire…I know how useless it is for me to tell you to leave. If you wish to come with me, you're free to do so. But, know this much: it is very possible you will die."

Faire felt a tear run down her cheek as she ran to embrace her brother. "As long as I'm with you, I'll always be okay."

Rea smiled softly and returned the embrace. Two days ago, he was a wise-cracking smartass who would love nothing more than to sleep all day. Now, he was a wise-cracking smartass who would love nothing more than to sleep all day, who was more determined than he had ever been before. It was comforting to know that some things never change.

"My children," Toriel said, "I do not know what you intend to do. But, I know that whatever path you take, it will be one of purity. Rea, act as Faire's conscience. Faire, keep Rea from going too soft. Both of you, please, keep the other safe."

Rea and Faire spoke in unison. "We will."

Toriel nodded and held her hand (paw?) out to Clyde, who gratefully took it. She turned to look at the siblings one final time before she led Clyde to the elevator. The door slammed shut, and Rea and Faire were alone once again.

* * *

 _God,_ Simon thought, watching through one of the broken windows. _Rea…why did you have to go and make me fall in love with you? Damn…I'm getting hard just thinking about him…_

Simon's eyes never left Rea, even as he slowly undid his jeans.

* * *

"You do have a plan, don't you?" Faire asked.

Rea didn't answer, just waited for the elevator for a few minutes. All things considered, it probably would have been smarter just to ride up with Toriel, then leave her at the throne room, but it was too late now. Rea just shrugged. It wasn't worth REVISING.

Faire looked at her brother with concern, respect, and a little bit of fear. But, above all else, she felt ashamed of herself. Toriel and Asgore risked their lives to protect her. And she had been such a bitch…

"Don't worry too much about it," Rea said, seeing Faire's distress. "Nobody can blame you for your anger."

"But," Faire began, but fell silent when she didn't know how to end the statement.

Rea didn't press her any further. He needed her on his side for this phase. In fact, he needed everyone on his side. If he was going to survive what happened next, he needed everyone…

* * *

The elevator doors opened just outside of the throne room, much to Rea and Faire's relief. They had done enough walking for one day.

"Why the throne room?" Faire asked.

"Because," Rea answered, "that's where all of this started. And it's where I intend to end it all."

The two of them walked through what appeared to be a cathedral hallway. When they entered the throne room, Faire stumbled back in shock, while Rea simply stood there, fully expecting this. Flowey sat alone in the middle of the room, but he appeared to be the only living thing in there. All the grass and flowers had wilted, leaving a field of brown on the floor. Flowey perked up when he noticed the siblings.

"Howdy! Might I ask what you're planning on doing here?" he smiled, but Rea saw the truth. Flowey was terrified. He had obviously seen what had happened to Iris. Iris, who was stronger than he was, was now dead. What's to say the same couldn't happen to him?

"Asriel," Rea said, causing Flowey to recoil, "I know you're in there. Please, all I want to do is talk."

"I have no use talking to the likes of you," Flowey burst out, launching a barrage of vines at Rea. He didn't move, and, though some of them came worryingly close, none of the vines so much as touched him.

"No need for me?" Rea asked, his expression soft. "Then, perhaps it's a desire for someone else? Anyone who can help to ease this hell you're living in? Am I wrong in that assumption?"

Flowey didn't respond, only sent another barrage at Rea. They came much closer this time, but none of them hit him.

"Faire, stay back," Rea said, seeing her try to creep up on Flowey. With a knife. She blushed and stepped back. "Asriel, please. I know what it's like to feel alone. So please…stop doing this!"

Tears were flowing down the flower's face, but still he made no noise, just stood still in the middle of the room.

"I understand, Flowey. It's not that you want to be alone, it's just that you feel the need to be alone. You're scared of what you might do otherwise, correct?"

"S-stop acting like you know me!" Flowey broke his silence, sending a flood of bullets towards Rea. These hit him directly, but they just plinked off of his chest like they were made of rubber.

"You won't kill me, Asriel. I know you. I understand you. And, after today," he said, cupping his hands, "I'll be with you always." His soul burst to life in his hands, glowing more brilliantly than ever before. "Everyone," Rea spoke softly, "please. Let me show you my true DETERMINATION. I was telling the truth earlier, but that truth has changed." His eyes gleamed, the same green that Faire had seen all her life. Those same green eyes that had reassured her so many times started fading. "This is what I am DETERMINED to do: I will BEAR the weight of your burden." Rea's body slowly began turning to dust as he faded away. Se smiled softly, spotting Faire, who was sobbing.

The entire room flooded with light as Rea's body fully vanished, and Faire's vision went dark.

* * *

When she woke up, Flowey was gone, but so, too, was Rea. All that was in the room was a small child, one who she instantly recognized to be Asriel. He was lying almost perfectly still, but his chest movements told Faire he was breathing. But, at the moment, that was the least of her worries. She scrambled over to where Rea had been, seeing only her phone in his place. There was one message on it. It was from Rea.

She had far more trouble than she should have had opening it, because her hands were shaking so much. But, as she hit play, Rea's voice was there to reassure her.

"Hey, Faire. I think it's time I told you everything. It's time you figured out why a goat child is currently in possession of my soul."

* * *

When he woke up, Rea was not alone, as he thought he would be. Instead, he was in a dull grey room. The only feature this room held was and equally dull door on one of the walls. What was truly fascinating, though, was the figure that sat looking at the door. Easily ten feet tall, and what appeared to be a skeleton, it did not react when Rea stood up. Not even when Rea asked where he was. It only broke its vigil when Rea started tugging on the creature's robes. It spoke in a strange language Rea had never heard before, but he still found himself able to understand everything that was said.

"Hello, dear boy, I am going to assume you are Rea? Or, are you perhaps Clyde?"

"I'm Rea."

"Fascinating. Now then, would you mind terribly telling me what has been happening in my absence?"

"Well, monsters are free now, but that happened about twenty years back."

"No, no , that much I knew. I mean, what has been happening with the humans? Have they revolted yet?"

"W-what?! No," Rea said, confused.

"Heh, that is indeed a pity. Oh well, it is only a matter of time now before the second war breaks out."

Rea turned pale. "Second war?"

"Indeed. When you're alone in this room for centuries, you are given a long time to think over things. When news reached me of the monster's release, I knew instantly that it would be a problem. Now, though, I have come to terms with this fact. There will indeed be another war, dead boy, but this one will not end so kindly."

"Kindly?" Rea exploded. He had heard enough of this. "The last time, monsters were trapped down in this hell, not even able to see the sun! And you're saying something worse is going to happen?"

Rea's blood turned to ice when he heard the response. The response that would shape his future. The response that changed everything. "What's worse, dear boy, is the complete eradication of monsters as we know it."

* * *

Faire stared down at the boy asleep on the grass. The recording had gone over everything, but it still didn't make sense. Rea had REVISED, all right, but it was far more than anything he had done before. He had converted his own soul into that of a monster's soul, and forcefully removed it from his body, giving it instead to Asriel. This would have led to Asriel's body disintegrating, due to the sheer volume of DETERMINATION, so Rea did something both very brave and very dangerous.

He kept almost all of the DETERMINATION in his own body when he gave away his soul. In a way, Rea became Flowey for a moment in time: a being filled with DETERMINATION, but without a soul. However, here's where things got complicated. After rewriting this much, Rea had unleashed a new ability: ERASE. He removed himself from the timeline completely, removing any trace of Flowey from existence. This, however, should have caused all memories of him to vanish. So, why then did Faire still remember him? If he had completely vanished, why could Faire still remember the smile he gave before her vision went dark?

Asriel stirred from under her, and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his paws. He turned to face Faire, and she almost broke down then and there. His eyes were green.

Just like his.

 **Hey, guys! Next time is the finale to this part! After that, there's going to be about a month of hiatus for me to plan out the next part. I'll post the exact date in the author's notes. Next part's going to be a lot of build up for Part 2. Until then, remember to comment/critique, and I will talk to you guys next time!**


	11. Part 1 Finale

-Part 1-

-Finale: Nevermore-

"T-that boy," Asriel choked out. "Where is he?"

Faire couldn't bring herself to respond. Probably because she knew she would start sobbing if she thought about Rea. Instead, she just held out her hand for Asriel to take. The monster recoiled.

"N-no! Leave me alone! I-I've hurt so many people…why would he do this?"

Faire's eyes were like stone. "I fully agree. You didn't deserve this. Rea didn't deserve to die because of the likes of you. But his final wish to me was to see you to safety, and I intend to do that."

Asriel started crying, the noise irritating Faire beyond belief. Twice now, monsters had taken everything from her. She didn't care if this was Rea's desire. He was gone because of this idiotic brat standing in front of her right now, wiping his eyes as he sobbed.

"I-I'm sorry," the monster cried, "I didn't want this either."

"And yet," Faire said icily, "here we are. So stop your damn crying, and let's get out of this place. Before I change my mind about you."

Asriel kept crying, but nodded nonetheless. He took Faire's hand, and she marched him out of the throne room, into the chamber where the barrier once stood. Now, it was only an open cavern, sunlight peeking through as dawn broke in the world above. They had been down here only two days, and somehow, everything had changed. Rea was gone. Iris was dead. And here was Faire, escorting Rea's killer out of this cursed land. She lingered for a moment, and glanced back into the darkness. Had it really only been two days?

She shook her head and walked through the exit of the chamber, and was greeted by some familiar faces.

"It is good to see you are safe, Faire," Asgore rumbled happily.

Clyde chuckled. "Who's that behind you? And where's-"

Everything fell silent as Asgore and Toriel noticed their son. The world stood still as the family gazed upon one another.

"-Rea?" Clyde finished, a look of shock and pain on his face. "Faire, where's Rea?"

Faire let it out. Everything she had been holding in, she let out. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she didn't even try to wipe them away. "He's gone."

Clyde let out a pained yell. Asgore and Toriel, however, were preoccupied elsewhere. "Asriel?" he choked out. "Azzie? Is…is that you?"

The small monster stepped out from behind Faire, nodding slowly. Asgore fell to his knees, while Toriel's hands covered her mouth. The whole family was crying as Asriel rushed to his father's arms.

* * *

Rea stood perfectly still in the grey room. "What do you mean when you say monsters will be wiped out?"

The being, which had introduced itself as Gaster, chuckled. "By saving Prince Asriel, you have started in irreversible series of events. With the monsters once again united, humans will grow even more wary of them. It will only be a matter of time before the battle begins. And, this time, humans will intend to finish what they started."

"B-but what you're suggesting is genocide! Surely there have to be at least a few good humans out there who will protect them.

"There are but seven beings who stand a chance at stopping this war. You yourself are one of them. You sister, the assassin girl, the kindhearted boy, Asriel himself, and Frisk are among the others."

"That leaves one more," Rea said, checking his math.

"Indeed. I believe myself to be the final of these seven beings. However, I have recently discovered a human whose power exceeds even that of Frisks."

Rea felt a chill go down his spine. Fully knowing what the answer would be, he asked, "Who would that be?"

"I believe you have already met him. His name is Simon. However, his desires will not be satiated by killing monsters alone. No, this boy will stop at nothing to paint the entire world red."

Rea shuddered, remembering how quickly Simon had beaten him at the hotel. "B-but we can still stop him, right? Hell, I'll even work if it means I can stop him!"

Gaster chuckled again. "You are a feisty one, when you want to be. However, you are still weak. Even against the likes of Iris, you would have died almost instantly had you faced her alone. And yet, here you are, begging to fight against an arguable psychopath whose power greatly exceeds even that of the pitiful Holy Knight you disposed of? However, if you were to completely give in to that insanity inside of you, perhaps even you could stand a chance at surviving for more than a few seconds."

Rea stiffened. "You know about that?"

"My dear boy, it is impossible not to notice! Even since you were a child, you've had that insatiable urge for blood! The urge to reset the entire world, so you could kill again and again with no penalty.

 _[He's right, you know.] Oh great, you again. [Like I ever truly left. This being speaks the truth. If you were to give in to me, I could help you stop Simon before his rampage even begins.] Not happening, bud. [Very well. You'll give in eventually. I'm okay with being patient.]_

"I can tell you are having trouble even as we speak! Tell me, boy, what is it you think insanity is?"

Rea thought it over for a moment. "It is doing the exact same thing over and over, all while expecting different results."

"Indeed. So then, wouldn't your fight against Iris count as insanity? After all, you reset over a hundred times, each time hoping for an outcome that could not be obtained. Had I not intervened and forced that blade to miss Clyde, would you still be standing there now, searching for an answer? My research suggests yes. I understand you, Rea Cooper. Everything that has happened so far has been my will. That vision you saw that enabled you to enter the Underground with Faire? My doing. The visions that brought Sylvie and Clyde to your position? My doing. The little voice in Toriel's head telling her you were in trouble? All of it, my doing. So then, ask yourself this: since when were you the one in control?"

Rea was silent, trying to take all of this in. Was he truly insane for trying to save everyone? After all, hadn't Frisk done that same thing? But then, Frisk hadn't managed to save everyone. Asriel had still been a flower, even if he did have that memory. And then there was this creature, locked alone in a room with nobody to talk to. Frisk had once mentioned that they had reset the timeline dozens of times, each time hoping for something different. But they had never succeeded. At what point did it stop being a human trying to save everyone, and turn into an addiction? And what point did it become madness, taking away everyone's happy endings over and over again to try and save a single monster?

"W-what are you getting at?" Rea asked, clutching his head _[Hello again.]_ as he stumbled back _[Did you miss me?]_

"What I'm getting at, is there is darkness in everyone. However, you've put yourself through far too much, Rea. You're more in tune with your insanity than perhaps anyone else. And Simon loves that about you. He loves seeing someone who's just as mad as he is."

 _[What do you say we have some fun?]_ "W-why is this happening to me?!" _[Don't act like you don't love it. Like it doesn't intrigue you.]_

"As I have just explained, you put a strain on your mental faculties. It's only a matter of time now before you will give in."

 _[He's right. Just give in. Stop this Simon man before it's too late. Accept the darkness into yourself, and end this war before it even starts.]_

 _…Okay._

Rea cried out as the madness finally took hold. How long had he wanted this? To stop caring about anything? Now, without a SOUL to hold him back, what was even the point of holding it off any longer? The whites of his eyes turned black, his green turning a bloody red.

Gaster didn't move through any of this. "Fascinating," was all he had to say.

* * *

Faire sat alone in her room, gazing down at an old picture. Age had covered it with dust, but it was still obvious what was there: two siblings, a brother and sister, holding hands in the middle of a forest, gazing into the sky together. Behind the camera, their mother smiled at the wonderful sight. Their father simply grunted and spoke in a gruff voice about how they were "wasting time" and they needed to get home soon. Their mother got upset, but wanted to avoid a fight, so she called the children over and ushered them into the car. Her stare told the father there would be a fight that night.

Fortunately for him, a when they got home, there was a group of about three monsters who had broken into their house trying to make some quick profit. The man fled immediately, while the mother tried to talk to the monsters, begging them to spare her children.

One of the monster's guns went off, and hit the mother between the eyes. She was dead before she hit the ground. They quickly turned their attention to the children. The sister was shaking in the corner, while the brother stood in front of her, trying desperately to keep her safe. One of the monsters, the same one who shot these kids' mother, threatened the boy with a knife, and, when the boy still refused to move, sliced the boy across the face. The girl screamed and cried for help. The police came in at that very moment, called there by the neighbors. Their bullets made quick work of the girl's assailant, and soon, she was covered with the monster's dust.

Things looked grim for the brother. The wound wasn't deep enough to kill him immediately, but it would be deadly if it wasn't treated immediately. By the time the boy had gotten attention, though, it was far too late. He had only minutes left to survive. Faire did the only things she could. She dragged her brother to the lab of Dr. Alphys, begging her to help him in any way. Despite the doctor's best efforts, things were looking worse and worse by the moment. Faire knew Alphys just wasn't trying hard enough, though. After all, look at the Amalgamates! They were monsters with weaker souls than her brothers, but she managed to bring them back. Why couldn't she do the same for the brother?

Soon, the girl had become convinced that every monster had been plotting this for some time. She thought back to every odd look she got from the creatures, and over-analyzed everything that had been said to her. It wasn't long before the girl shut herself in her room, refusing to speak to anyone who was not human. That all changed when her brother came back.

He helped her smile again. He helped her trust again. Even though she hated most monsters, he convinced her to give some of them a chance. Faire stared down at the photograph, tears forming little droplets on its surface.

 _Rea…how could you do this to me? How could you leave me alone again?_ Swallowing her pride, she dialed the number on her phone. The number she had sworn to herself never to call again after that day so long ago.

After three rings, a gruff voice picked up on the other side. It sounded drunk. "Yeah, who is it?"

Faire grit her teeth and tried to sound as pleasant as she could. "Hey, Dad. Listen, I need help with something."

* * *

Clyde sat by Sylvie's hospital bed. His own wounds were minor compared to her loss of limb.

"Heh, I really fucked that up, didn't I?" Sylvie chuckled weakly. Somehow, she was expected to fully recover. Alphys was even in the process of creating a prosthetic arm for her.

"Just promise me one thing, Sylvie?" Clyde asked, and Sylvie nodded. "Never do something like that again." He leaned over and lightly kissed her on the cheek, causing her to blush and smile slightly. "I'm really glad I met you, Sylvie."

This caused Sylvie to blush even darker, though she was still smiling like nothing was odd. "T-the same goes for me, Clyde."

Clyde gazed out the window, smiling vibrantly. "Just think, it's almost over now. After this, we're done with our mission."

"Not exactly," Sylvie's eyes gleamed. "There's still the matter of rescuing Rea." Faire had told them everything, and they were all in agreement that Rea was not truly erased. After all, they still retained their memories of him. He had to be out there somewhere.

Clyde sighed deeply. "I'm all rescued out for the time being."

"There's really no rush," Asgore said as he walked into the room, making Clyde jump. "He's safe, for the time being. What we should focus on now is that Church that's after you. I highly doubt they're going to stop after just one assassin. There will be others."

Syvlie's expression darkened. "Not it I can help it, there won't be."

Asgore looked at Clyde, who shrugged, not really caring what she meant. Clyde really didn't care about anything at the moment. Because, while there would be problems, there, in that hospital room, with the woman he loved, Clyde was truly happy for the first time in a while.

* * *

"I am going to cut off your arm now," the boy looked down at his informant. "Beg for mercy, and I may take pity on you." His foot lowered, the blade on its bottom sinking into the man's shoulder.

"Come on, Cain," his twin brother chuckled, "leave a little for me, won't you?"

"Sorry, Abel, but this is just too good! Now, I am giving you one final chance. Tell us where our sister is, or the arm comes off. Even if you don't know, why don't you guess? You may just get lucky."

The man struggled to choke out an answer through the blood that was pooling in his mouth, but he still managed to form some semblance of a response.

"At…Mt. Ebott…she's the one…who killed Iris…."

Cain's eyes flared. "My sister would never do such a thing. I warned you before to stop lying to me. Now, it's time to face the consequences." He kicked viciously, and his skate tore through the man's throat like paper. He choked again, and was still.

"You shouldn't have lost your temper, Cain. Father will be furious." The twin lightly chastised the brother, though he honestly couldn't care less who Cain killed. All that mattered was his sister. "Sylvie…I'm coming for you."

* * *

Simon exited the underground, wincing at the light he hadn't seen for nearly a decade. All that time in the Underground had strengthened him beyond measure. What came next, though, was up in the air. A hiker, noticing the boy come out of the mountain, waved as he walked over.

"Hey there, stranger! What brings you up this far into the mountains?"

Simon looked the man over and shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm looking for someone. It's not you."

"Well, I've lived in these here mountains my whole life, I may be able to help you find him."

Simon's eyes lit up. "Have you heard of a boy named Rea?"

The hiker thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Heard of him, of course. He's the boy who's half monster, ain't he? Either way, I don't know him well. I could tell you he lives in the village at the base of the mountain, but that's really all I know."

Simon pressed him. "Is that really all you know?" When he saw the hiker nod, he sighed deeply. "That's a pity. And here I was hoping you might be of use to me." With a flick of the wrist, a dagger shot out from his sleeve into his hand.

"W-whatcha got there?" the hiker asked, backing away.

Simon approached the man and held the knife up to his throat. "I know you're lying. You do know something else about Rea Cooper, don't you? I hate liars."

"P-please don't kill me! I have a wife and kids!"

Simon clicked his tongue impatiently. "Another lie. Three strikes and you're out, buddy."

The hiker paled. How had this kid seen through his ruse?

"L-listen, I don't have much, but I do know there are Police who scout this mountain every day! It'll look awfully suspicious if a corpse turns up!"

Simon nodded. "Then I suppose I'll just have to leave no evidence. Goodbye."

* * *

Rea was on his hands and knees, sweating profusely.

"It seems you are still fighting off your madness. It's no use. Once it has taken hold, you must let it run its course. Otherwise, it will completely consume you," Gaster spoke, observing closely.

"Sh- _SHUT UP!"_

Rea let out one final scream as he clutched his head in pain. He fell silent, and didn't move for a long while. When he removed his hands from his face, no emotion showed on his face. Then, he broke out in a large grin.

"I see you have fully taken over, my dear," Gaster spoke to this new entity.

"Heh, I guess so. That last human was so bland; they didn't have any violence in them at all. This one, though, has some serious darkness inside of him. There's a strong desire to erase. And Gaster, what was that whole speech about 'madness' and 'insanity' all about? It was so cheesy."

"My apologies, my dear, but I simply had to make sure he would allow you control. This was the best way to do that. If he thought the being trying to take over was himself, he would allow it in much easier than if it knew the truth. His removing of his own soul did make things far easier than I expected, though. Imagine how hard it would have been if he still had his own soul intact, my dear Chara."

Chara, using Rea's body as their avatar, smiled wickedly.

 **Part 2: "The First Human"**

 **Coming 12-28-15**

 **Remember to comment if you like what you read! Sorry about** **the earlier misprint of the "coming" date!**


	12. Part 2-Chapter 1

**-Part 2-**

 **-Chapter 6-Second Chance-**

Rea's knife ripped through Clyde's neck, and he fell the ground with a dull thud. Sylvie's shriek was cut short by the very same knife tearing through her throat. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"P-please, Rea!" Faire cried out to her brother, but he was too far gone. He turned to her and smiled wickedly.

"Faire, fall back!" Frisk called from the edge of the crater, but knowing already it was too late.

Rea charged his sister, knife piercing her heart. Her soul shook violently, threatening to break at any moment.

"Brother…" she whimpered pathetically, blood spilling from her lips. "I know you're in there somewhere. Please…come find me…"

"You dumb broad," Chara cried from behind Rea. "You really think he's not doing anything he didn't already want to do? You think this is just some puppet I'm using? No, this is merely the true desires of a boy with nothing left to live for!"

"I…don't…believe…that…." Faire fell silent, her eyes glazing over as they stared, unblinking, into her beloved brother's face.

Rea's face was stony as he pulled the knife out, causing Faire to drop to the floor of the crater.

Abel and Cain shared a glance at each other before nodding and rushing to the edge of the crater. "Frisk, get out of here!" Abel called to the child, before a well-placed shot from Rea's revolver tore through his forehead. Before he could even process what had happened, he died. Cain cried out in agony.

"Damn it all, Rea's too powerful! His LOVE is too high!" the surviving twin sobbed. "You bastard!"

He rushed towards Rea, only to fall when another bullet landed between his eyes.

Frisk surveyed the carnage from above. Asgore, Asriel, and Toriel's dust covered a small patch of ground towards the center of the hole Rea had created where Alphys's lab once stood. Undyne was bleeding against the wall, Alphys's dust running through her hands as tears flowed freely down her face. Dion had a smudged trail of blood behind him as he tried to crawl away, which abruptly stopped as it reached his still body. Sans was unconscious, while his brother hadn't even lasted a minute against Chara. Chara herself was standing beside Rea, smiling uncontrollably. Rea himself stood over his sister's body, a slight flicker of recognition crossing his features before his face hardened again.

"Frisk," Verdana called from the opposite end of the crater, the skeleton holding her side and breathing heavily, "You know what you have to do, don't you?"

Rea perked as he heard a voice, and a barrage of bullets tore through Verdana, leaving a trail of dust in its wake.

Frisk did know what they had to do. But they had sworn to Sans they would never do it again.

"F-Frisk," Isaac gasped with her last breath, everything from below her waist simply gone. "I'm sure Sans would…"

Frisk never got to hear what Sans would be, as Isaac fell silent before she could finish the thought.

Frisk's attention was drawn to Rea slowly approaching the man who was cowering underneath Clyde and Sylvie's corpses, trying to hide himself.

With a wave of his hand, Rea sent the bodies flying, leaving the man vulnerable and shaking like a leaf. Rea's smile was that of a man who had nothing left to lose.

"Hey, Dad," he chuckled, "long time, no see. Somehow, I get the feeling you're drunk right about now. Let's rip into your stomach and see what we find, shall we?"

This was too much for Frisk. To hell with what Sans had said. There had to be a way to change this future. If only they knew how…

Frisk held out his hand, and said the words they had repeated countless times in the underground: "RESET!"

 **-Part 2-**

 **-Chapter 1-Old Friends-**

Faire sat alone in her room, staring out the window. This was something she seemed to do a lot, much more recently. Two months had passed since Rea vanished, but there were still no clues as to where he was. In this time, Sylvie and Clyde had officially started dating, which gave Sylvie time to test out her new prosthetic arm that Alphys had made her.

Then there was the whole issue with her father.

For more than ten years now, Rea and Sylvie had taken care of themselves. Even as children, Rea knew that giving themselves up to Social Services would be suicide, and Faire wouldn't allow the idea anyway. She couldn't stand running the risk of losing Rea again, should he be adopted by another family. So, Rea had talked to Alphys about the idea, and while she was nervous at first, she managed to get him all the fake documents he needed to make it seem like they had a parent.

Using these papers, Rea managed to start taking care of both himself and Faire. He woke her up in the morning, made her breakfast, made sure she brushed her teeth, and got her to the bus in the morning. Trying to pay for the house had been challenging at first, before Rea did something that wasn't entirely legal. He had Alphys hack into their father's bank account, and redirected a small portion of his welfare checks to them. Though it was miniscule and the first few years were hard, the siblings were DETERMINED to stay together.

But, that didn't mean money was never a problem. When things got especially hard on the siblings, Rea gave himself up to a group of scientists who wanted to figure out how his soul worked. They swore there would be no harmful side effects, but Faire was still wary of the idea. Inevitably, the negative side effects did start showing, but Rea just told everyone he was coming down with a bad case of the flu. When he passed out in the middle of class one day, though, the teacher demanded the truth.

Though his tears, Rea told the teacher everything. About his parents, the experiments, and the issue with cash. Though the teacher had wanted to turn them in to protective custody, some begging from Rea quickly stamped out that idea. However, this teacher was determined that this child would be taken care of until such a time when they could take care of themselves, in her own words. So, the teacher took them in as her own, and, for a few years, life was good. They were fed, nurtured, and taken care of in a way they hadn't been since their mother passed.

When Rea turned fifteen, old enough to get a part-time job , he managed to convince the teacher, who he called "Teach," to let them go back to their original house, as he didn't want to cause her any more trouble. After a long argument, the teacher allowed this, but only under the pretense that she would be over once a month to check up on the siblings. Rea agreed wholeheartedly, and swore to work as hard as he could to keep himself and Faire happy. And work hard, he did. There were several days where he didn't have a second off of his feet, trying his best to make ends meet. Faire offered to get a job to help out, but Rea wouldn't let her.

At the time, Faire thought it was pride. Now, though, she knew what it really was.

A knock at the door shook the memories from her head. She opened the door and was greeted by Toriel. The monster looked exhausted, but happy nonetheless. Faire tried her best to smile. Toriel had done a lot for her over the years, and she had just given hate in return. It was time to atone.

"Hey, Toriel," Faire said, and Faire saw her slump ever so slightly.

"It's strange not being greeted by Rea at the door anymore," she said, staring off into the distance before shaking her head. "How are you doing, Faire?"

"How do you think?" Faire said, not unkindly. "It's been hard, but I got a job and I'm working my butt off to try and make ends meet. Rea kept a cookbook in case he ever forgot a recipe, so I know how to make things like he did. It just…doesn't taste the same, you know?"

Toriel nodded sadly, and Faire noticed the little foot poking out from behind her. She inwardly groaned. She had been such a bitch to Asriel that day so long ago, and she still hadn't had a chance to apologize. This was going to make for a very difficult situation…

"Why don't you step out and say hello," Toriel whispered softly.

A small snout poked out, followed by the green eyes Faire knew so well. Seeing that he wasn't going to get yelled at this time, Asriel stepped out fully, surprising Faire. She had expected him to start crying or to put up a fight, but instead he was perfectly silent, though he was refusing to make eye contact. Faire felt the edges of her lips being pulled up involuntarily. Once she got over the bad blood between them, there was simply no denying that Asriel was pretty freaking adorable. Toriel giggled a little, seeing the goofy smile spreading over Faire's face.

"It's nice to actually meet you, Asriel," Faire said, bending down so she was at eye level. "You must think very little of me, and I can't blame you for that. But, from the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry if I was rude to you before."

"I understand," Asriel said quietly. "I know what it's like to lose someone you care about."

And that's about the point where Faire's heart melted. Frisk had filled her in on Asriel's past when they came to visit last month, and Faire couldn't help but feel bad for the poor kid. His only crime had been trusting people too much. But, until now, she hadn't realized how similar the two of them were.

"On a related note, how're things going between you and your father?" Toriel asked.

Faire shrugged. "I put holy water on the doorway, so that should keep him from coming in."

Asriel snickered a bit, but Toriel looked cross. "That's no way to talk about your father! I understand that he's done some bad things in the past, but he still gave you life!"

"Yeah, and he's also the reason Rea lost his the first time," Faire challenged.

Toriel raised her finger to argue, but lowered it when she couldn't think of anything to say.

"Well, he could have…I mean, it's possible he…True he did leave you…My goodness, he really is kind of an asshole, isn't he?" Toriel said, immediately covering her mouth with her paws when she heard Asriel gasp in shock.

Faire burst out laughing, and gazed out the window again. _Rea, wherever you are, I think you'd be proud of me. I'm finally making some new friends._

* * *

Rea, however, was too busy being possessed by the spirit of a murderous human to worry about who his sister was hanging out with.

 _[Again. Do it again.]_

Rea took a deep breath and held out his hand. He focused his entire power into this one shot. He looked at the boulder that was his target. Gaster had placed this stone in front of the exit to the Grey Room, stating that when Rea was strong enough to remove it in such a way that Gaster couldn't immediately fix it, he would be free to go. And, right now, Rea felt all his DETERMINATION go towards this one thing: Destroy that boulder.

He refocused himself, and felt the now familiar tingle in his fingertips at the energy from around him was channeled through his body. There was a monstrous roar as the energy forcefully left his body, blasting the boulder to dust. Gaster, who was standing right behind Rea, surveyed the damage and nodded his approval. "Very good, dear children. You two are making an excellent team."

 _Yeah, team. Like we can even be called that. [Quiet, you. Or do I have to remind you firsthand how badly you need me? Without a soul of your own, you will do exactly what I say.] Whatever, fearless leader. Lead on, oh mighty murderous one._

 _[I grow annoyed with your attitude. Very well. I'll be taking over for a while.] Be my guest. I'm getting pretty tired anyway._

Rea closed his eyes, and Chara opened them.

"Hello, Gaster. What do you think of the boy's progress?"

"Most impressive. He is advancing far beyond what I had expected by this point. He has a great store of DETERMINATION. Now, if only we could fully harness it."

"Indeed. However, your requirement has been met. There is no possible way for you to rebuild that stone in the time it would take for us to escape."

Gaster sighed melodramatically. "Quite right, my dear, quite right. It will be a shame to lose such an interesting subject, not to mention the first people who have talked to me in a very long time. And yet, I know what you must do."

Chara's eyes flashed murderously. "Indeed. I'll make those humans pay for what they did to my beloved Azzy."

* * *

Clyde struggled to keep his eyes open for the lecture. He had officially moved to the village where Sylvie and Faire lived, having found it impossible to leave his friends behind. He hadn't had much trouble talking his parents into letting him stay, all he had to say was that it would be a great chance for him to make new friends and they instantly agreed it was the right choice. However, it soon was discovered that they still wanted Clyde to go to school. This wouldn't be a problem, except Sylvie and Faire were both a year behind him, and he knew roughly zero other students in his class.

Other that MettatΩn, of course, but that prick often proved to be more of a problem than a possible friend. Clyde sighed as he felt another spitball slap the back of his head, sent there by that freaking robot. _Man,_ Clyde thought to himself, _I'm so lame, even robots make fun of me. Maybe staying here was a bad idea._

Another spitball collided with his cranium, and Clyde altered his idea: _No, I was wrong. Staying here was DEFINITELY a bad idea._

And, just as he was about to admit defeat, right there in the middle of class where the teacher was talking about how to dismember others, another spitball zoomed past his head and smacked the kid in front of him. The boy stiffened, and turned slowly to face Clyde.

"Excuse me," the boy said, his voice dangerously calm. "Was that you that shot a spitball at me?"

"N-no!" Clyde said, blushing furiously. "I-it was the robot behind me! I mean, MettatΩn! Or, maybe you know him as Chrome? Or Brett? I hear he also goes by-"

The boy held up his hand for Clyde to stop. "Hey, bro, no prob. I know exactly what you mean, you know? This guy's terrorized a lot of kids so far this year. Which one is Brett?"

Clyde shook as he pointed behind himself towards the dark haired 'boy.' The kid nodded and stood up, drawing everyone in the rooms eyes to him.

"E-excuse me, Mr. Paulson, but you can't just-"

Mr. Paulson held up a hand towards the teacher (which, considering it was Undyne, was probably a really stupid idea) and turned to face MettatΩn.

"Hey there, newbie," the boy said, pulling out a stick of gum from his pocket. "You got a problem with this kid right here?" He gestured to Clyde, causing him to blush and sink into his seat.

"What's it to you?" MettatΩn sneered, making Mr. Paulson chuckle a little as he popped the stick in his mouth.

"Meh, nothing much, other than the fact that last spit ball hit me," his face cleared of all humor, and even Undyne stumbled back a little. The aura this kid was giving off was downright terrifying. "So, I'll give you this chance to apologize, before I disassemble you bolt by bolt."

MettatΩn blushed furiously, but mumbled something that almost sounded like an apology. The boy smiled again, all hints of his earlier bloodlust now gone.

"See? Was that really so hard?" he sat down and looked Undyne right in the eye. "What're you waiting for? A written permission?"

Everything was silent as the class half expected Undyne to impale the boy right there. What they did not expect, however, was for Undyne to burst into laughter.

"Hey, I like you, kid! The attendance sheet isn't giving me your first name, so you mind telling me what it is?"

The boy snickered a little. "No problem. I'm Dion."

* * *

Rea stumbled through town, drawing curious and shocked looks as he wandered towards his house. There would be time to explain to everyone else later. But, for now, there was someone he needed to see.

* * *

Faire refused to believe what she was looked at. Rea was standing there in the living room, looking just like he did all those months ago. Perhaps a little worse for wear, but otherwise unscathed, he allowed Faire ample time to adjust before speaking.

"I know this must come as a shock to you," Rea said, continuing before Faire could cut him off, "but I need you to believe me. I'll make this simple: I'm not Rea. Not entirely, at least. When I lost my soul, I should have simply vanished from the world. Instead, though, another soul took up residence in my body, allowing me to stay alive."

When Faire nodded, he continued, "I've spent the last few months trying to adjust to this new soul, and to give the soul time to adjust to my body. Right now, we're equally in control; she gives me life, I give her a body to work through."

Faire interrupted. "How is that fair? Couldn't this soul just take over at any moment and pretend to be you? Who's to say I'm not talking to the soul right now."

Rea though it over for a moment, trying to think of a way to convince his sister. "Well, think of it like this. If the soul takes over, you would know immediately any changes is my behavior. So, the soul would risk being discovered, and consequently being forcefully removed from my body."

"True, but it would take an incredible amount of DETERMINATION to keep yourself in control without the aid of magic," Toriel chimed in.

Rea opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it, deciding instead to demonstrate. He cupped his hands, and felt a rush go through his fingertips as it left his body. Toriel and Faire gasped in unison as a small but undeniable fireball burst to life in Rea's hands. It lasted only a second, but it seemed like an eternity. For the first time in centuries, a human had just used magic. Rea smiled, seeing their shocked faces.

"Magic is in every living thing, not just monsters. However, when we sealed the monsters in the Underground with the barrier, our magic was sealed away as punishment by a powerful wizard. During my training, the soul and I managed to find a way to weaken this seal to the point when I can cast simple spells."

Toriel struggled to speak, but managed to get out what was almost a full sentence. "B-but this other soul…it must be…"

"Insanely powerful?" Rea finished for her. "It is. After all, it's managing to keep my body intact with no issue, and can even take over when required."

"When would it need to take over?" Faire asked.

"When there's an obstacle that can't be solved with my power alone, I sometimes let her take over, if only for a few minutes. She's still very tired, you see."

 _[Heh, you're a rather proficient liar.] Like I have a choice. You promised you wouldn't do anything as long as I did as you said. But know this much: if you so much as touch a hair on my sister's head, I will forcefully remove you from my body. [Like you can risk doing that. Admit it, you fool, you need me.] Just as much as you need me._

 _[That is of little consequence. Once your use had been worn out, I shall simply toss you aside. Then, this body, all of your DETERMINATION, will be mine. And you can't stop it.]_

 _…_

Rea stared into Faire's eyes, silently pleading. _Run, Faire. She's going to kill everyone and everything! Please, Faire it's Asriel she wants, so keep him safe!_

 **Hey, guys, I suck at keeping deadlines! I originally was going to actually wait to post a chapter for once, but I recently found out I'll be away for a few days, and will be unable to post when I planned to. So, instead, take an early-access look into Part 2! Part 2 will have a whopping 12 chapters, and will be separated into two definite halves: What I'm calling the Chara arc, and what I'm calling the Simon arc.**

 **Let me just say again, thank you for all the support I've gotten over the course of this story. I know it's not the most well-written or most well-defined Undertale story out there, but you guys have been very kind and supportive to me this whole time! So, for now, see you guys next time, and have a great holiday season!**


	13. Part 2-Chapter 2

**Warning: This chapter contains references to past self-harm and attempted suicide. Read at your own discretion.**

 **-Part 2-**

 **-Chapter 2: Monster Ambassador-**

-2 months ago-

"Good morning, Ambassador Dreemurr," Isaac said cheerfully, her face lighting up as Frisk walked into the office. "Is there anything I could do for you this morning?"

"Isaac, I keep telling you, just call me Frisk. There's no need to be so formal."

"Of course, Ambassador Dreemurr."

Frisk sighed playfully. Ever since Isaac had started here three years ago, it was a topic of debate between them how impolite she was allowed to be. Having grown up in a wealthy family, she had a huge chance of turning into a snobby brat, but she had instead proven to be the best secretary Frisk ever had. Unfortunately, though, the monster blood that ran through her family tree led to her being shunned by the very humans who were supposed to protect her.

Isaac's face darkened. "Frisk, there's something you really need to see."

That caught Frisk's attention. Isaac never used their first name unless something was seriously wrong. Isaac pulled out a remote and flicked on the television that stood mounted on the wall behind her, with a grave expression on her face.

Frisk's anger rose continually throughout the news segment being shown to them. The headline blared: **Another failed attempt at Ambassador Dreemurr's life? Possible inside job?**

Frisk watched, red-faced, as the anchor called them out as a liar, and that there had been too many close calls for it to be accidental. No, they were simply trying to garner some pity, to keep the public on their side. Frisk noticed with no small amount of satisfaction that the reporters kept using gender-neutral pronouns. Their gender was unimportant to them; stereotypes be damned.

After the report finished, Isaac pressed another button, and the channel changed, now showing a town that was very familiar to him: the village at the base of Mt. Ebott, and Frisk's hometown. It took Frisk a moment to read the headline, but then they found themselves rereading it, again and again. What it said couldn't be possible.

 **Prince Asriel Dreemurr has returned! Possible loss of life to bring this monster back?**

Frisk waited for the story to end before speaking.

"Any ideas?" they asked Isaac, who nodded.

"Possibly. We obviously need to go to see Mr. Dreemurr, to verify this information. If this is true, it could ruin the peace we've kept for so long."

"Believe me, Isaac, nobody wants to keep this peace more than myself. However, would it be safe for me to go now? There's supposed to be a big meeting tomorrow about trying to get monsters to become equal citizens as humans!"

Isaac chuckled bitterly. "How ironic. It took hate to unite every nation."

Frisk's expression was grave. "The next war that comes won't be between humans, I can tell you that much. If Asriel is back, I don't think I need to tell you what this would mean for monsters?"

Isaac shook her head. "Monsters will stand, united once again. The humans will get nervous, and try to stamp out any rebellion. It's only a matter of time before the genocide begins."

"That's where I think people are wrong," Frisk said. "If there's a war, there will be one side slaughtering the other. But I don't think humans will be on the winning end of things."

Isaac recoiled. "Y-you really think monsters could take humanity down?"

Frisk's eyes gleamed. Or, at least, the slits did. "Consider, for a moment, all of the humans out there who are sympathetic to the monsters. Add in all the half-bloods, like yourself, who will obviously join in with the monsters. On the flip side, I challenge you to name even a single monster who would join the humans, should war break out. No, if there is a war, monsters could win…it's just that they won't."

Isaac chose not to press the point. If she knew Frisk at all, they would already be coming up with a plan to keep the peace.

"So, should we go to visit this prince of monsters?" Isaac asked, returning to her usual peppy self.

Frisk smiled, but shook their head. "There's no immediate danger for him. The real situation is going to be here, trying to convince the humans that there is no major threat to them with Asriel's return. When is my schedule clear for a full week?"

Isaac flipped through the calendar. "It seems that your first full week of vacation is not for another two months." She frowned. "Ambassador, what will be done here while you are away?"

Frisk grinned mischievously, but didn't answer. Isaac got worried. If Frisk was gone, they would need a replacement. Someone to prove to the world that monsters aren't all bad. Someone to show just how nice monsters can be…

-Present day-

"OF COURSE YOU WOULD PICK ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, TO HANDLE SUCH AN IMPORTANT MISSION!" the skeleton cried, making Isaac roll her eyes. Papyrus was nice and all, but she wasn't sure he could handle being in charge of such an important job… "JUST TELL ME WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, AND YOU CAN REST ASSURED THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL COMPLETE THIS JOB WITH EASE."

Isaac turned to face Frisk. "Ambassador, are you sure about this?"

Frisk nodded. "Indeed I am. Papyrus, I need you to speak to the delegation and prove to them, at least for a week, that we mean the humans no harm!"

"ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES?"

"It's harder than it sounds," Frisk deadpanned.

"VERY WELL! I SHALL PRESENT THEM WITH AN ARGUMENT THAT WILL KNOCK THEIR SOCKS OFF!"

"Actually, Papyrus," Isaac chimed in, legitimately worried for the future of monsterkind, "what we were really hoping for is that you would present them with a puzzle, instead. Something that will keep them occupied for the whole week."

Papyrus's eyes gleamed. At least, the empty cavities where his eyes should have been gleamed. "WORRY NOT! I WILL THINK UP A PUZZLE THAT WILL NEVER BE SOLVED BY THE LIKES FOR HUMAN KIND! NYEH HEH HEH!" With that, he ran out the room.

Isaac didn't speak. Instead, she just glared at Frisk, who had a shit-eating grin on their face.

"Oh, this should be good. I'm almost upset we're going to miss it," Frisk chuckled. Isaac nearly fainted.

"W-WE!?" What's this 'we' business!?"

"Well, of course I'm going to take you with me. If anything goes wrong, I'll need to be alerted immediately."

"So, what, I'm damage control?"

Frisk flashed her the thumbs up, and she groaned.

When they got back, she was asking for a raise.

* * *

Chara sat alone in bed, staring at a heart-shaped locket.

 _[Azzie…These humans must be made to pay for their sins.]_

 _You really do care about him, don't you?_

 _[More than words can say.]_

 _So why do this? Why try to hide the truth from him? You're in complete control right now. You could easily just take over and wipe out humanity, just like you want to._

 _[…That would make Azzie sad. He always was a crybaby.]_

 _And you think you can convince him that regicide is the only option? That all humans, regardless of their stance on monsters, should be slaughtered like animals? He'll just shun you away!_

 _[…Why do I have to justify myself to you?]_

 _Convince me, Chara. Convince me, and my body is yours. Prove to me that you really do only want the best for monsters._

 _[Just what are you implying by saying that?]_

 _Asriel-_

 _[Azzie.]_

 _Right, Azzie. Azzie said that you hated humanity, even before you entered the Underground. At least, that's what Frisk told me. What's to say that you aren't just doing this for fun? You claim you want revenge for monsters' sakes, but will that do anything to alleviate your thirst for blood? Will that do anything to calm the fires raging inside your SOUL? Will that do anything to help the monsters in any way? Ask yourself these questions, Chara. I look forward to hearing your answer._

 _[…I ask again, why must I justify myself to you? You can't stop me, no matter how hard you may try. I'm in control now. Your soul is gone. This body may be yours, but its mind, its soul? Those are mine. Try as you might, you are helpless against my power. And I won't let anyone, least of all my own host, stand in the way of my goal.]_

 _And what is that goal? Again, this goes deeper than you just trying to avenge humanity. What did they do to you, Chara? What was it that drove you into the Underground?_

 _[…Why are you trying so hard to save humanity? They are horrible creatures, bent on destruction. They only care about themselves.]_

…

 _[Is it because your sister is one of them? Or perhaps those others you call friends? But, in the end, didn't they show who they truly were? They killed Iris, who was trying to kill them. That is the only thing humans care about: killing.]_

…

 _[Why do you ask me to justify my actions when you yourself cannot even justify your own? You act like such a saint, only to be blindfolded by your own darkness.]_

…

 _[Is that justice? Is that righteousness? Is that what gives mankind strength? Throughout human history, man has lied and murdered for his own personal gain. Monsters are different! They care about each other! They care about humanity, a species that had done nothing but hurt everyone around them! They even cared about a little girl who was only trying to end her life!]_

… _!_

 _[You ask why I entered the Underground? It's because I was sick of humans, and the games they play. Maybe it didn't affect me at the time. Hell, my life was fucking perfect up there. But I knew what my future held. It was a future of hate and prejudice. The kindness of a single person cannot purge the sins of an entire species.]_

… _Are you any different?_

 _[What?]_

 _You say humans only live for killing, and yet, here you are, planning a mass genocide of them. You are only proving yourself to be as bad as the people you despise._

 _[I'm not as bad as them.]_

 _Oh no?_

 _[No. I'm even worse. The crimes I've committed are far more heinous than most people can even dream of. There's already no hope for me. But look at Azzie. Look at the purity in that smile. I tried to kill myself all those years ago because I thought I'd never see that kind of purity again. Are you really willing to let humanity clear the innocence from that face?]_

 _It seems you've mistaken me for a pessimist. Humans can be easily swayed by the purity of a child._

 _[But will he always be a child? What will they do when time starts taking its toll on him?]_

 _You mean to tell me you intend to kill all humans in an attempt to keep his purity, when you know very well that time will be the true destroyer of his innocence?_

 _[You misunderstand me, boy. Killing humanity is only step one. After humans are out of the way, I shall steal their souls and ascend to godhood. With my newfound powers, I will be able to stop the flow of time. Nothing shall ever make Azzie's joy vanish.]_

* * *

Frisk stepped off their private jet, Isaac stumbling behind them. She had always hated flying. Not as much as she hater boats, mind you, but flying was a very close second.

"Fr-Frisk," she grumbled, "I get you wanted to take the shortest route possible, but even you have to admit, some of those mountains got worryingly close."

"Come on, Isaac, we're alive, aren't we?" Mark chuckled, stepping out of the plane right behind Isaac. "And I'll admit they came close when you admit it was pretty thrilling!"

"Listen, Hon, I know you enjoy risking your life on a daily basis, but for those of us with a desk job, almost dying is not considered thrilling," Isaac glowered.

"I never said I enjoy risking my life. I'm just saying it keeps me on my toes," Mark snickered.

"You must be Ambassador Dreemurr," the pretty blonde girl said, walking up to Mark. "It is a pleasure to meet you at last, sir," she stuck out a mechanical hand for him to shake, only for Mark to burst into laughter.

"Listen, Blondie, I'm flattered and all, but I'm not the Ambassador."

"Indeed," Isaac piped up. "If he was the Ambassador, monsters would have been wiped out decades ago." Mark grumbled, but didn't argue. Probably because he knew it was true. "This is the Ambassador," Isaac gestured to Frisk, who nodded and stepped forward.

The blonde blushed furiously, but pretended nothing was wrong. "My apologies, Mr. Dreemurr." She frowned. "Erm…Ms. Dreemurr?"

Frisk shook their head. "Frisk will be acceptable. After all, I am on vacation for now. What might your name be?"

The blonde recovered her poise and curtseyed. "I am Sylvia Yvette. I was one of the humans who recovered Prince Asriel from the Underground. I believe I talked to your secretary over the phone?"

Isaac nodded. "Indeed. Ambassador Dreemurr, Ms. Yvette-"

"Please," Sylvie stopped her. "Just Sylvie would be nice."

"My apologies. Ms. Yvette here-" Syvlie looked stunned, "will be acting as your guide during your stay in the city."

"Y-yes, but I just said you could call me Syvlie."

"My apologies, Ms. Yvette."

Sylvie looked dumbfounded, but Mark just looked mildly amused. "Just give it up, Blondie. Isaac is way too respectful for something as vulgar as first names," he said sarcastically.

"B-Blondie?!"

Frisk sighed deeply. "You two, leave me be with Sylvie. We have matters we need to discuss."

Mark and Isaac did as they were told, and wandered off to find a place to eat. In their place, two boys, one giving off an aura of power and the other looking like he hadn't slept in days, stepped in.

The creepy one spoke first, his voice surprisingly soft. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ambassador. I am Dion, and this is Andrew," he gestured to the sleepy looking boy, who merely nodded. "We will act as your protection during your stay."

Frisk turned to Sylvie. "Can they be trusted?" they muttered under their breath, so only the blonde would hear.

"Andrew is a close friend of mine, and Clyde, one of the other humans that helped in Asriel's rescue, suggested Dion to me. Rest assured, though, your own guardian, Mark, will have complete control over them at all times."

"Oh, I feel bad for them," Frisk muttered. "Mark's a kinky bastard."

Sylvie smile melted away as she slowly realized what Frisk had said. "T-that's not what I meant."

Frisk gazed at her. "He would be willing to record it."

Sylvie's mouth opened, and then shut as she considered it. Her answer, however, was interrupted by Frisk clutching their head in pain. Memories came flooding back, and a powerful sensation ran through his spine. A sensation he had not felt since that bed of flowers, so long ago. Instantly, everything came rushing back. Their eyes shot open.

"Bring me to Rea," he commanded. "There's an old friend I need to talk to."

 **Hey, guys! Kind of a short chapter this time, but the next one will have a lot happen in it. After all, Chara thinks a lot like I do: Asriel is a cinnamon bun, much too precious for this world, too pure. The difference, though, is that I'm not trying to turn into an absolute god of mayhem to try and keep him happy (at least, as far as you guys know…). Also, I've started posting this story on AO3, with a few minor revisions to make it a lot smoother. On that note, see you guys next time!**


	14. Part 2-Chapter 3

**-Part 2-**

 **-Chapter 3: Round Table-**

"I know it's you, Chara," Frisk growled to Rea, who was sitting across the room from them. "Might I ask why you have chosen this body to possess?"

"He's interesting," Rea shrugged. "As long as humans exist, hatred will exist. I merely chose the human with the most hatred in their soul."

"I don't believe that," Frisk said. "I've talked to Rea since he was just a boy! I've never seen someone who is as resilient as he is!"

"Resilience and forgiveness are different things," Rea chuckled. "He may have overcome horrible odds, but he hasn't forgiven the world for what it did to him. For what it did to his sister."

Frisk scowled, but couldn't think of any good argument. True, Rea had been through hell and back, but he had always seemed so cheerful when he talked…

"So you're really in charge, then?" a voice rang out from the door, where Faire was standing, looking visibly upset. "It's not Rea who I've been talking to all this time?"

Rea's face fell, and he stood to face his sister. "I'm sorry, Faire, but your brother is indeed gone. He gave his soul to restore Asriel, leaving his body empty and lifeless. I needed your trust, and the best way to do that was by acting as your brother. I know it sounds horrible, but I need you for a plan."

"What plan could it possibly be? And what makes you think I would ever trust you again?" Faire shrieked.

"I need another body," Rea said, keeping calm. "And your brother's soul isn't entirely gone. He simply weakened his soul exponentially."

"You literally just said he was gone," Frisk said, but Rea continued as it they hadn't said anything.

"He still has a soul, but it's weak. In fact, its power now is equal to that of a monster's soul."

"My brother…" Frisk said, growing pale.

Rea nodded. "Is now, for simplicity's sake, a monster."

Faire stumbled around a bit until she was sitting down, her head between her legs. _Hey, God? What to do me a favor and stop with these practical jokes of yours? They're kind of getting on my nerves…_

* * *

"What do you think of Mark so far?" Dion asked Andrew, who simply shrugged noncommittally. Andrew didn't talk much, as Dion had quickly found out, but he was scary good when it came to using his throwing knives. There seemed to be no end to the small but deadly blades, and Dion was positive he one time saw Andrew cough and one of his knives flew out of his mouth.

"Well, I like him," Dion affirmed, making Andrew raise his eyebrows. "I mean, he's so badass! He risks his life on a daily basis for the Ambassador, he's won several international medals for bravery, and, most impressively, his girlfriend used to be a guy, and he still goes out with her!"

Andrew shot Dion an amused look, but didn't respond, turning instead back to the task of sharpening every knife in his collection. Somewhere around the hundredth knife, he kind of just made it second nature, but he still didn't want to cut himself. A pickpocket must never risk injury to his hands.

"Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you, how did you and Sylvie meet?" Dion asked, and Andrew put down his sharpening stone, giving Dion a mildly amused look. "Or, you could keep your silence, and we'll just go on with our lives?" Andrew nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Clyde picked up his phone on the fifth ring. "Hello?" he responded groggily.

"Good evening, Mr. Clyde," an unknown voice rang out in his ear. "We have been trying to contact you for some time now."

"Is that right? Who may I ask is calling?" Clyde asked, still half asleep.

"Of course, how rude of us. We are Round Table, a branch of the church that sent Iris after you."

Clyde woke up faster than he knew possible. "What is the meaning behind this call?"

"Simply put, this is a fair warning. That girl you have been spending so much time with, Sylvie? She is far more dangerous than you could ever believe. Sever all ties with her immediately, and we will allow yourself and your remaining friends to live."

 _Remaining?_

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I quite follow you. Why call me? I'm not the one who was in charge of the operation. In fact, I probably did the least out of anyone down there."

"That is your answer," the voice answered calmly. "You are the least deserving of divine retribution. Your friend, Rea Cooper, received what was deserving of such a filthy sinner. You, though, were merely along for the ride. Turn your back on your friends, and no harm will befall you."

"And what of Sylvie? What of Faire and Toriel? Will they be spared?"

"What a ridiculous question," the voice said cheerfully. "Of course not. They shall be disposed of in a timely manner."

* * *

 _[So, you've really taken control, then?]_

 _I thought I finally got rid of you for good._

 _[Not even close. As long as you're in my body, you're following my rules.]_

 _Hardly. You can't even gather up enough strength to warn your sister of what is coming._

 _[Faire's clever. There's no way she buys into your little story. She knows you're up to something.]_

 _What's it matter, anyways? Even if she does know, she's just as powerless as you are. Everyone who tries to face off against me will die._

 _[…There is someone…]_

 _How dare you insult me in such a way? When I finally get a body, I'll pay you back for that._

 _[It won't be easy to create a body. What's your solution to that one, oh mighty wonder bitch?]_

 _Simple, I'll just have to take the body of another person. Granted they'll have to be dead, but it doesn't matter anyways. If everything goes according to plan, I'll just kill everyone eventually, so I'll just have to make it a matter of who to kill first._

 _[Any ideas?]_

 _That man, Mark? He seems to be well-versed in combat. I could use a body like that._

* * *

Sylvie picked up her phone on the fourth ring. Looking at her phone, she grinned.

"Hey, honey," she said seductively.

"Hey Sylv, we're got a problem!"

"What's going on?" Sylvie asked, her smile vanishing. She had never heard Clyde like this before.

"There's someone after us called Round Table! They swore they would-." His voice cut out, replaced instead by what sounded like an old man.

"I'm disappointed in you, Clyde. You could've saved yourself. Instead, you chose the wrong path." There was a sharp crack on the other end of the line, and Sylvie dropped her phone in shock. She had been trained to detect the sound of a gunshot from over a mile away. She had also heard enough bodies hit the ground to know exactly what had transpired on the other end of the line.

She shakily picked her phone back up, begging for a response.

"Clyde?"

Silence.

"Clyde, please, this isn't funny."

Nothing.

"CLYDE!"

Despair.

* * *

 _Even now, your weak friends are being picked off, like mere animals? Who do you think is responsible? Humans._

 _[You monster.]_

 _All things considered, that's a compliment. Heh, ironic isn't it? I mean to destroy all humans, yet they are already killing themselves off! Well, that will save me some energy, won't it?_

* * *

Frisk picked up their phone on the third ring.

"Hello?" they asked, all business.

"Frisk, are you okay?" Isaac's panicked voice rang out through the receiver.

"W-what? Of course I'm okay."

"Thank God. We need to get you to safety immediately," Isaac sobbed, getting Frisk's attention. It was not until later that Frisk realized Isaac had used their first name.

"Isaac, what's going on?"

"One of the four humans who saved Asriel has been found murdered!"

Frisk felt ice run through their veins. This hadn't happened in the last loop. What had changed…?

"W-what about Mark?"

"He's taken those two kids and is assigning each of them to one of the others. He will be taking Rea.

For the first time in a long while, Frisk's eyes shot open. "W-wait, what? Isaac, get a hold of Mark and tell him not to go near Rea! He's not who he seems!" But the line had already gone dead.

* * *

"What do you think?" Lancelot asked Percival, who shrugged a little.

"I was expecting a bit more out of one of the four 'chosen ones,' but I suppose it is nice that it was so easy."

"Indeed," the man nodded. He wiped down the barrel of his rifle, which had recently taken the life of a very important person. "Now then, how do you think the others are doing?"

"I'm not all that worried. Gareth shouldn't have much of an issue with the sister, and the boy will soon destroy himself. No, it's Gawain I'm worried about. That girl is not someone to be trifled with."

Lancelot smiled. "Wasn't Iris his apprentice, though?"

Percival laughed wickedly. "Ah yes, I'd forgotten about that. Gawain will definitely have something to fight for."

"We should report to Arthur at once," Lancelot stood suddenly. "Do you think he's disposed of the Ambassador yet?"

"I doubt it. That kid's got a lot more going for him than you might think."

"Do you doubt milord?" Lancelot raised an eyebrow.

"Not even remotely. I'm just saying that the kid won't go down easily. I've seen firsthand what they're capable of, and it definitely ain't pretty."

* * *

Faire picked up her phone on the second ring.

"Rea?" she asked hopefully.

"In a way, yes," Chara said. Faire's shoulders slumped, but she remained professional.

"Are we still going through with this plan? Even with what happened to Clyde?"

"Of course," Chara affirmed. "It's just a simple trip into the Underground so I can get myself a body, and your brother can have his back!"

 _[She's lying, damn it! Why can't you tell!?]_

"Alright," Faire said, still pretty shaken up. True, she and Clyde weren't that close, but they had still been through some pretty major events together. Plus, there were the implications on what this meant: someone was after her. "What should we do about our new guardians?"

"Just ditch them," Chara said nonchalantly as she tossed Mark's heart up and down in her free hand. The owner of said heart was slumped against a wall, a look of shock permanently etched onto his face and a gaping hole in his chest.

"All right. I'll just tell my guy that I'm going out for some fresh air," Faire said, and hung up.

"I don't think that'll work out for you," a male voice said from behind Faire, and she turned to face Andrew. "After all, I'm more than just a guardian." He held out his hand, and a knife shot out from his sleeve. "I'm a member of Round Table. And, my lovely little lady, you've done something very, very stupid."

Andrew, codenamed Gareth, smiled wickedly. "Don't worry, though. I'll try to make this as painless as possible."

* * *

Sylvie was running for her life. Behind her, Dion let loose a barrage of shots at their pursuer.

"Dammit, who is this guy?" Dion shouted as the man who called himself Gawain charged on, despite having several bullets lodged in various parts of his body. He called into his walkie-talkie.

"Andrew, Mark, requesting backup!" He waited for a response, only to get static. "Damn it, where are they?"

"It doesn't matter, let's just keep going!" Sylvie called, taking a sharp turn into an alleyway.

Dion made to respond, but was cut short as an arrow lodged itself between his shoulders.

"Son of a…bitch…"

Gawain swung his sword, and Dion fell silent.

Sylvie, meanwhile, was silently kicking herself for not looking if the alleyway had an exit. What she got instead what a ten foot tall wall made of brick. It would be easy to scale, but she would be easy prey for Gawain's arrows. She had heard rumors of him from Iris. He never missed. And he never showed mercy.

Bracing herself, she turned to face her attacker head on, concentrating with all her might on what she was DETERMINED to do. Like her teacher before her, Sylvie materialized a shining white sword in her hand. Someone was going to die in this fight.

And Sylvie did not plan on joining Clyde any time soon.

 **Hey, guys! So you may be wondering: What the actual fuck just happened? Here's your answer:**

 **Friend who's reading this story: All things considered, this isn't actually that dark. I mean, only one character has actually died so far!**

 **Me: :)**

 **Friend: Your readers are about to hate my guts, aren't they?**


	15. Part 2-Chapter 3-5

**-Part 2-**

 **-Chapter 3.5: Heartless-**

The following papers were taken from the desk of King Asgore following the events of the Black Dawn.

Dear King,

As you know, every day, humans and monsters are born. Every day, humans and monsters die. This is the circle of life. For centuries, this cycle has continued, unbroken, so that the Earth could continue maintaining life. What gives these beings their lives? Their SOULs, of course. But, what is a SOUL?

A SOUL is the very culmination on a being's existence. Their very lives are predestined by their SOULs, including the day they die. This fate cannot be stopped, nor can it be delayed. However, there is one major exception to this rule, which takes the form of DETERMINATION.

Humans especially have a very minute chance of being DETERMINED enough to forgo death, if only for a short while. While this trend has been seen in monsters, their bodies then degrade at such a rate that their deaths come mere minutes later. Indeed, through DETERMINATION, a being could rewrite the fate written out in their SOULs.

However, what effect does this have on the SOUL itself? Can it really be healthy to break the rules of your own life? A SOUL is set to expire after the date written out for its demise. When this SOUL expires, it does not always shatter, but it loses its ability to sustain life to its host. What, then, happens to the host?

The answer, dear reader, is known as an EMPTY. A creature that is surviving off DETERMINATION alone, with no regard towards the rules of the cycle. This presents a problem: the cycle itself is interrupted, almost always with catastrophic results. The first time this happened was recorded with the monster child, Asriel Dreemurr.

Injected with DETERMINATION which intermingled with his dust, a completely new entity was given form. Although, this researcher must ask, what will happen if this were to happen to a human?

Yours Truly,

Alphys

* * *

Dear Asgore,

It has been done. A human without a SOUL has appeared. The child known to many as the Holy One has appeared in a small town off the Gulf of Mexico. This child's DETERMINATION levels are off the charts, even above those observed in the child Frisk. Interestingly, due to this boy's amazing magical prowess, a small following has gathered, calling themselves Round Table.

Each of these members claim to also have no SOULs, but research into them has proven otherwise. Still, it is indeed rather worrying how quickly a cult has appeared in response to this oddity. Then there is Frisk themselves. They still have not aged since that day five years ago, and my experiments have discovered some…dangerous anomalies from within their SOUL.

However, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about at the moment. The same goes for this strange Round Table. I'm sure it will all die down with time.

Yours Truly,

Alphys

* * *

Asgore,

I swear, this was never my intention. Round Table is growing at an alarming rate, and Frisk's body still refuses to acknowledge that is has been ten years since they left the Underground. Every day, their SOUL grows weaker. At least, it did.

Because, as of the time I am writing this to you, Frisk has become a Heartless.

You may ask, what is a Heartless? Well, a Heartless is a being that, rather obviously, doesn't have a heart. I'm not talking about a physical, beating heart, but I'm talking more about the symbolic 'heart' that gives a person's life meaning. This 'heart' is another term for a person's SOUL.

Sir, I am not fully aware of what Frisk did in the Underground, but it is obvious that their SOUL was set to expire some time ago. It is merely by their own DETERMINATION that they are staying alive at the moment, and I'm not sure how long that will last them. Although, this is no new thing, is it?

Arthur continues to age, unimpeded by his lack of a SOUL from birth. He is what is known as an Innate Heartless, while Frisk is an Artificial Heartless. I highly doubt I need to explain why they are called that.

For now, all we can do is watch in awe as these two strange children, both without SOULs, continue living, despite everything we know about how life works…

Alphys

* * *

Asgore

I really hope this letter will reach you, and that you haven't ended up like so many others did these last few days…

The numbers are in for casualties, and are as follow:

1,297 monsters and 4,572 humans on our side, and

620 monsters and 890 humans on the Round Table's side.

I don't really need to point out how very unbalanced those numbers are…

Asgore, I know you try and go about solving things peacefully, but they went too far. If Rea and Clyde hadn't shown up when they did, we would have been wiped out. But, I do have some good news. Faire and Sylvie have agreed to undergo the process, as have Erich and Autumn. We're going to have four more Artificial Heartless join our ranks. This is our only hope against Round Table.

I can't promise success, but I can promise that this is the only option left. Whatever will happen, this battle will end soon.

Praying that you are well,

Alphys

 **Hey guys, sorry for a really short chapter that doesn't really make all that much sense. As I said, there are 12 chapters in this part, separated into two smaller arcs. Right now, we're still dealing with Chara, but Round Table is about to become a very real, very pressing matter. However: here's a summary of what my friend said when she read this:**

" **You got Heartless from Knigdom Hearts!" (Sue me, I'm uncreative.)**

" **Wait, don't I know about Round Table? Are those the bastards that killed Clyde?"**

" **CLYDE IS ALIVE!? WHAT THE FU-"**

 **And that's a pretty good summary of this chapter. The real Chapter 4 shouldn't be much longer, but I can assure you of this much: It's freaking massive. The last chapter had some death. This next chapter is just a lot of pure, unadulterated violence. Should be fun.**


	16. Part 2-Chapter 4

**-Part 2-**

 **-Chapter 4: James-**

Clyde floated alone in the emptiness. _I suppose this must be what death is. Just an empty, black void…damn it, why did this have to happen to me? And Sylvie…oh, damn it Sylvie. I'm so sorry I failed…_

Clyde spent a long time alone, what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, though, he felt the ground solidify beneath him, though there was nothing there.

"I guess this means the good guys lost, huh? Well, that bites."

"Not necessarily," a voice said from behind Clyde, and he turned around to see a boy roughly his age writing something down in a notebook. "I didn't create you to be such a quitter, did I?"

"Created…?" Clyde muttered. He had a million questions, but he settled on the most obvious one first. "Who are you?"

The boy snapped his notebook shut and peered at Clyde. "My name is James, and I am the creator of this world." He shrugged. "Well, sort of. Let's just say I'm in the one in charge of this particular reality."

"T-there are other realities?" Clyde asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Of course," James said, as though this were an obvious question. "Of course, there are some things I don't have the power to change. But you, for the most part, are my own creation," James said, looking oddly proud. "It was almost a shame to kill you off."

"Y-you killed me?" Clyde asked, his brain going a million miles a second.

"Of course. I'm the one in charge of this reality, so I decide who lives, and who dies. However, that boy Rea," James's expression turned weird, "he's a bit of a…paradox, shall we say? He's both alive and dead, in a way. His body and SOUL exist, but they are in separate places. Rea himself is split down the middle, and, try as I might, I cannot control him anymore. The same goes for that human, Frisk."

James chuckled bitterly. "Heh, Frisk. Always RESETing my work if they didn't like the outcome. Making me change the story for a better ending. What they don't realize, however, is that some stories don't have happy endings."

"I don't believe that," Clyde argued. "There has to be a good ending for everything!"

"But isn't the ending of everything death?" James challenged, confusing Clyde. "Nothing in this universe lasts forever. I, of all people should know." James's expression turned to one of pain. "I made some really bad choices. Choices I really, really regret. Created realities that I thought would be fun, and wiped them clean when I grew bored with them."

"Y-you can even destroy these realities?" Clyde asked, dumbstruck.

"Not just me," James smiled. "Everyone with the power to create holds in them the power to destroy. But that's a conversation for a later date. For now, it is time for judgement." James held out his arm, and Clyde felt his chest grow tight. His SOUL erupted out, and floated over into James's outstretched hand.

"You've got fear, cowardice, and a whole lot of anger," James started, "but you've got a lot of BRAVERY. Huh, I made a mistake before," he smiled a little, and Clyde's one-red SOUL shifted colors until it was a vibrant orange. "That's better. It'll suit you much more. Although, I'm afraid it's already far too late to change anything."

"When Frisk RESETs, I'll just wake up, safe and sound," Clyde said confidently, but James just shook his head.

"Frisk can no longer RESET. I took that power from them after their most recent attempt to alter the outcome," he said, and Clyde stumbled back.

"W-why would you do that? How can you do that?" he cried.

"I've told you before, this reality is my own. But Frisk tried to mess with it. Even if I kept the ending the same, they could always just RESET and force me to give everyone the happy ending they 'deserved.' However, doing this caused holes to start appearing in the timeline. I tried my best to fill them but alas, they appeared far too quickly." James's eyes gleamed. "If a timeline has too many holes in it, the reality will collapse on itself. And then I, the one in charge, will be forced to take drastic measures to make everything fall into place."

"So you took away the only power that could SAVE the world, just so you wouldn't have to do as much work?" Clyde snarled.

"Did you not hear me when I said the reality would collapse on itself?" James exploded. "Not only would I suffer, but all of my creations, and the universe itself, would suffer with me. I would start making mistakes, and errors would start appearing in the timeline; people showing up when they were half a country apart, people coming to the rescue who had already died, and people getting killed who aren't even supposed to be in this reality. If this were to happen," James took a deep breath to calm himself, then continued. "If this were to happen, I would be forced to wipe this universe clean, just as I have done so many times now. And I've worked far too much for this to all fade away, just like the others."

"So change it yourself," Clyde said. "Give everyone the good ending the first time around, so Frisk wouldn't have to change things!"

"I've told you before, there is no such thing as everyone getting a happy ending," James growled. "It's impossible for everyone to be happy. As long as there are two people in the world, someone is going to want somebody dead. That's the way this world works." His eyes turned black. "In this world, it's kill or be killed."

"I refuse to believe that," Clyde said, and James stumbled back a bit, shocked. "I reject everything you're saying. I've seen this world firsthand. I know how much good there is in there."

"You think you know this reality more than myself, its creator?" James asked, regaining his poise.

"No, but I'm saying I understand human nature more than you. Because people can do good. Look at what Rea did for Asriel. Look at what Frisk did for every monster."

James thought about it for a moment, and then smiled sadly. "Very well, Clyde. I'll give being nice a try. But that doesn't change the fact that you're gone, and there's no raising the dead."

Clyde's face fell. "So, it really is too late for me."

James nodded. "And now, it's time for you to-."

A paper airplane chose that exact moment to fly directly into James's eye. After a long stream of cursing, he unfolded it and read what was written on it.

"Don't do this…making a mistake…Clyde is bae…Oh, god dammit, I hate when this happens," he muttered under his breath.

"What's going on?" Clyde asked, some small sense of hope flickering in his chest.

"Oh, some of the others who view this reality are kind of ticked off that you're dead. Really, Luke, that seems rather harsh," he said as he read another line. He sighed tremendously as he crumpled up the sheet.

"Oh, fuck it, I'll let you live," he muttered.

"R-really? Just like that, you're just going to undo my death?" Clyde asked.

"Yup, pretty much. But don't thing that I'll do this kind of thing again. You're just lucky I'm feeling nice right now. And I'm not going to RESET, like that brat does every time something bad happens. Nah, I've got a better idea…" James's eyes gleamed. "Clyde, have you ever heard of a Heartless?"

* * *

"Shit," Sylvie muttered as death missed her by an inch. "Shit, shit shit!"

"Enough, girl," the brute in front of her grunted with every swing of his axe. "You will die, here and now, in a world where nobody will miss you.

"I wouldn't go that far," a voice echoed through the alleyway, and Gawain stopped just long enough to get punched in the back by Abel's gauntlet. He stumbled forwards a few paces, then turned to face the boy.

"You…you have no business here," he growled, raising his axe once more.

"Incredible," Abel muttered as he sidestepped to avoid being cleaved in half. "You must be a Heartless. This does indeed present several problems. After all, if my notes are correct, the only being that can kill a Heartless is either an Unbound or another Heartless. As I am neither, this is a rather unfair battle, don't you think, dear sister?" he addressed Sylvie, who stumbled back in shock.

"W-wait, Abel? Where's Cain?!"

"Hello," a voice said from above. Cain jumped down off the roof and tucked his legs in, releasing them just in time so the skates attached to the bottom tore a major gash in Gawain's back. Before their very eyes, though, the wound seemed to sew itself shut, starting from the bottom and making its way up, soon leaving no mark it was ever there.

"How unfortunate. Your regenerative abilities far outclass even that of the most powerful monster known to mankind. As long as you remain without a SOUL, we will be fighting an impossible battle," Abel deadpanned.

"Well, this is a load of bullshit," Cain simplified. "Hey, Sylv, get out of here while you can. We'll keep this guy's hands full for a while.

Sylvie probably should have given some great speech about how 'they would die' and 'she wasn't worth it.' Instead, she did the smart thing and ran as fast as her legs could carry her as her younger brothers did all the fighting.

"W-wait, I didn't mean literally!" Cain called, then sighed with annoyance. "Women."

* * *

Faire muffled her own sobs as she hid under her bed.

"Where are you?" Andrew's singsong voice floated through the air, inviting Faire to run to her death. She had very quickly found out that , while his hearing was impeccable, Andrew was blind. "Come out, Faire, I just want to talk."

 _Yeah, right_ , Sylvie thought to herself. _Ugh, this is stupid. I need to get out of here so I can help Rea._

 _[Did somebody say my name?]_

 _Oh, you motherfucker._

 _[No, that would be Dad. Where is he, by the way? His own daughter is in danger, and he's not getting some warning alarms in his head? Man, he really is a bad parent.]_

 _What was your first clue? And how are you talking to me, I thought you were a monster now?_

 _[First of all, 'monster' is such a hurtful term.]_

 _I will end you._

 _[Fair enough. Secondly, since my SOUL doesn't really have anywhere else to go, I'm able to freely travel around the world. Of course, there was this meeting with some guy who called himself James. Claimed to be the creator of the world.]_

 _Oh? And what was that like?_

 _[For a creator of worlds, he's actually kind of a whiny bitch.]_

 _Well, that's rather disheartening. Anyways, do you have any ideas on how I can get out of here?_

 _[Your best hope right now is to wait for backup. Clyde should be here any minute to take this guy down.]_

 _Clyde?_

 _[Yes.]_

 _Clyde, who got shot in the back multiple times by a sniper?_

 _[Yes.]_

 _He's going to save me?_

 _[Yes.]_

 _Uh-huh._

 _[Sis, you're currently having a mental conversation with your dead brother while a human without a SOUL is hunting for you to slaughter you mercilessly.]_

 _…Fair point._

* * *

Erich was having a really, really bad day. First, his alarm didn't go off. Then, the bus left just as he got to the stop. Then (though not as major as his other issues,) a group of SOULless terrorists began mowing down anyone in view, which came very close to including him.

You know, normal teenage guy stuff.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start that morning, when Erich would've died, if not for the utter shitiness of his alarm clock.

He looked at his clock that morning and came very close to having an aneurism. 8:00. Class started in ten minutes.

He scrambled out of bed and cleared the 50 meters to his bathroom in two strides. All this time, he was screaming at the top of his lungs. While he was brushing his teeth, he was screaming at the top of his lungs. When the bus left the street in front of his house, he was screaming at the top of his lungs.

When the bus exploded, he was screaming at the top of his lungs, albeit for a very different reason.

He rushed back inside and began dialing on his phone. He had to make sure his brother was okay. He clicked in the numbers and waited for a respone.

" _Hey there,_ " his brother's voice alerted him, " _sorry I can't make it to the phone. If you leave a message, I should be able to call back soon. Thanks!"_

"Dammit, Clyde," he thundered, "where are you?"

With his mind somewhat off his brother, he finally realized what had just happened. Everyone on that bus…all his friends…the adorable first grade girl next door…

He somehow managed to get most of his vomit into the toilet. When all the bile was gone from his stomach, he still found himself retching. When he finally stopped, he found it impossible to stop shaking. He had already lost a busfull of friends today. He couldn't lose his older brother.

There was a loud pounding at the front door.

"OPEN UP," a voice screeched. It didn't sound human. "OPEN UP, FILTHY HUMAN, AND I MAY SPARE YOU!"

Clyde found the strength to stumble up and grab the knife he kept in his room just for such an emergency. Then, slowly, he crept towards the door, knife concealed behind his back.

"I SAID OPEN UP," the voice screeched once more. "I'LL GIVE YOU UNTIL THE COUNT OF THREE! ONE…TWO…THR-!"

The monster was stopped as Erich flung open the front door and began stabbing wildly. The knife found its way into the attacker's throat, and the monster soon crumbled into a pile of dust.

"Well," Erich gasped, still clutching the knife, "that was a thing. But why…?"

All at once, it hit him.

"Oh God," he breathed, running inside to grab the shotgun. "Oh God, oh God, oh God!"

Less than a minute later, he virtually flew out the front door, gun strapped to his back and a look of sheer horror in his eyes.

* * *

Gawain towered over the visibly defeated twins.

"Damn it all," Cain muttered, trying to get another kick in, but instead was sent sprawling into the street.

"This," Abel summarized, half his face covered with dried blood, "is bad."

"You naughty children who tried to search into the skies above," Gawain roared, raising his axe for a lethal blow, "face judgment!"

Abel smirked. "Not today," he muttered raising his gauntlets to take the grunt of the blow. "Not until we know Sylvie is safe."

Gawain, distracted by trying to cut Abel in half, didn't see Cain come charging once more and jump into the air. The boy's skate tore into the Heartless's arm, much deeper than anticipated. Blood exploded out of the wound at a nerve was pierced. He cried out in agony and stumbled back, clutching his now-useless arm, his eyes closed in pain. When they opened, their white had turned instead into a deep, unforgiving black.

"You're going to pay for that," he croaked, the wound already beginning to heal.

"I think not," a female voice said from the other side of the street. A deep blue spear flew past the twins, lodging itself into Gawain's side. "Am I too late?" Undyne snickered as she prepared another barrage. "Or do I get to have some fun?"

* * *

The boy known as Arthur sat alone in an empty room, save for a single wooden chair and a bare table.

"I wonder," he sighed dreamily, "is all of this worth it?"

The man known as Lancelot strode into the room, his armor clanking noisily.

"Milord, the time has come to begin the next phase," he bowed deep.

"Very well, Lancelot," Arthur said, as dreamily as before. "You may commence phase two of the Black Dawn."

 **Fourth wall? What's that? What's up, guys, how's it going? I know it's been a long time since I've posted an update, but this chapter marks the start of something really major that's about to go down. Black Dawn is pretty much going to be this story's equivalent to the Red Wedding; literally nobody is safe. Sure, I let Clyde live again, but that's because he was one of my most avid reader's favorite character. No, don't ask me to save anyone else from now on; dead is dead.**

 **Usually.**


	17. Talk to you Later

-Notice-

As of the time that I am writing this, Overtale is currently on an indefinite hiatus. Unlike my other stories that failed, this isn't due to lack of interest, but instead due to me not being able to manage time and efforts successfully. The bottom line is this: I currently have WAY to much going on for me to be focusing on 6 stories at once.

This is where BlitzKraig comes in.

BlitzKraig (formerly Yourluca (I think I spelled that right)) is another writer who has been following this story from the beginning. When he heard that this story was going on hiatus, an agreement was made between us; he would continue writing the remainder of the story in my stead. Please keep this in mind:

HIS WRITING STYLE IS GOING TO DIFFER FROM MINE. THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT IS BAD.

Please, guys, be as supportive as you can to Blitz during the first few chapters, as he's still trying to figure everything out. Blitz is an awesome guy who's shown me nothing but support in all of my stories, so I expect you guys to be just as polite to him. And do keep this much in mind: I'll be helping him out along the way. What this came down to was I no longer had the energy to keep this story going, as much as I tried. And, when you plan out five distinct plot arcs, you kind of grow attached to the characters. So, I'm not completely abandoning Blitz to figure everything out himself, but instead, I'm just leaving the writing to him.

Everyone reading this: Thank you. You've managed to motivate me so much in the last few months, even you dicks who left hate in the comments section. You know who you are. If you enjoyed this story, please check out some of my other stories (which aren't nearly as violent.)

It's been a pleasure writing for all of you, and know this isn't the end of my contribution to Overtale. Instead, I'll just be working in the background, while Blitz does all the hard work. And, Blitz, if you're reading this, know this much:

Words cannot express how immensely thankful I am to know you as a reader, an author, and a friend. You've helped me see the good in even the worst situations, and made me laugh at some dark moments. Even if we've only known each other a few months, you're still one of the coolest people I know.

And lastly, to you, dear reader. Not you readers as a whole, but every individual reader out there. Those of you who have been here since the beginning. Those of you who are only reading this because you saw Blitz's author's note. Each and every one of you: You're the best. None of this could have happened without you. This isn't a goodbye.

I'll talk to you later.

~James Gravely


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